A Fresh Perspective

  An elephant was enjoying a leisurely dip in a jungle pool when a rat came up to the pool and insisted that the elephant get out. “I won’t,” said the elephant. “But I insist you get out this minute,” said the rat. “Why?” asked the elephant. “I shall tell you only after you are out of the pool.” The elephant refused, but his curiosity got the best of him. So he lumbered out of the water and stood in front of the rat, “Now, then, why did you want me to get out of the pool?” Said the rat, “To check if you were wearing my swimming trunks.”      An elephant will sooner fit into the trunks of a rat than God will fit into our notions of God. God is so much more than what believers typically believe about God. How much more? Well, in this text we get a glimpse of the more-ness of God, especially as this applies to God’s love and grace. God’s love far exceeds human notions of love.     Jesus says according to Luke,   But I say to you that listen, Love yo...

In your worship bulletin I have included a quote by Richard Rohr who points out that biblical texts mirror the nature of human consciousness. He says the Bible “includes within itself passages that develop the prime ideas and passages that fight and resist those very advances.” He says that we might even call it “faith and unfaith.” I would not not call it “unfaith” I would call it unhealthy faith, or bad faith. Both good faith and bad faith, says Rohr, are “locked into the text.” The Bible mirrors or own faith struggles. In other words, good faith and bad faith are both part of our sacred tradition , which is why it is so important to read a text critically before we read it spiritually. I think it’s time for churches and Christian leaders to admit that we have done a poor job teaching people how to read a biblical text critically. Many Christians have never even attempted it and wouldn’t know how to start. The result has been that we end up believing a lot of contradictory thi...