The Bible was never meant to be a rule book filled with condemnation, but the story of humanity coming to understand God’s nature over thousands of years. Learn to read it that way and it will be a valuable resource of insight and wisdom into God and how he works in the world.
I have always thought of the Bible this way, and now believe it more than ever. But how do I respond to my relatives who insist the Bible is “written directly by God” and therefore is literally true in every word? I find it impossible to have a rational conversation with such people anymore – they deny all historical and sociological context of the writings. And they use it as a weapon to judge everyone who doesn’t conform to their strict belief system. I even dread trying to explain to them why we don’t “belong to a church” or go to services regularly. They have become so narrow-minded.
As difficult as it is to be judged by relatives and friends who have mistaken views of God or Scripture, we’ve not been asked to convince them but to love them. You don’t owe them explanations or an education. What you can do is divert the conversation to safer ground and keep the focus on Jesus and what he is doing in your life, what he is speaking to your heart, and where you are seeing him draw you closer to him. Let love have the final word in your gracious demeanor to them and it will help them see that loving each other does not require agreement, and differences don’t require confrontation.
I have always thought of the Bible this way, and now believe it more than ever. But how do I respond to my relatives who insist the Bible is “written directly by God” and therefore is literally true in every word? I find it impossible to have a rational conversation with such people anymore – they deny all historical and sociological context of the writings. And they use it as a weapon to judge everyone who doesn’t conform to their strict belief system. I even dread trying to explain to them why we don’t “belong to a church” or go to services regularly. They have become so narrow-minded.
As difficult as it is to be judged by relatives and friends who have mistaken views of God or Scripture, we’ve not been asked to convince them but to love them. You don’t owe them explanations or an education. What you can do is divert the conversation to safer ground and keep the focus on Jesus and what he is doing in your life, what he is speaking to your heart, and where you are seeing him draw you closer to him. Let love have the final word in your gracious demeanor to them and it will help them see that loving each other does not require agreement, and differences don’t require confrontation.