Jello Molds

 

Treating the Bible Like Jello

 

Do we treat the Bible like Jello?

 

When we read and teach the Bible do we pour the text into our distinctive molds? Do we add fruit to it? How about toppings?

 

Do we make our own core identity the core of the Bible?

 

A friend of mine once did a sermon series on “the Presbyterian view of spiritual formation as seen in the Gospel of John.”

 

I thought, “Really?”

 

Why not teach the Gospel of John as it is written?

 

Or, if you have a pastoral sense to focus on spiritual formation in the Gospel of John, then why not simply approach it as, “Spiritual formation as seen in the Gospel of John?”

 

Do we want our people to be Baptists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, or Christians? Well, the pragmatic answer is that we want them to be in the mold of our tradition, whatever that might be. Should we want this? I can’t see that we should want it.

 

Would we not be better Baptists or Pentecostals if we were Christians first – disciples of Jesus Christ first? Men and women and young people being formed into His image first and foremost?

 

How many treasures of the Word and of Christ Jesus do we miss when we treat His Word as Jello? On the other hand, if we would learn to receive the Word as it is written and made alive by the Holy Spirit, then the possibilities are infinite because of our Lord Jesus is infinite.

 

My friend was just doing what he was taught, and he was just doing what most of us do…and what most congregations want their pastors to do.

 

I wonder how many Jello molds I am still using?