Taking it up with the Author

As seeni in the HEARTbeat and the Village Voice

“Take It Up with the Author”

            Writing a book can be hard.  It first takes genuine motivation to even begin the initial stages of writing a book.  It takes discipline, organizational skills, and in some cases a willingness to bare your soul to the reading public.  Writing a book, especially an autobiography, can be a life-long endeavor.

            I have served as a co-author on one book, an editor on another, and a manuscript reviewer.  Have I ever written a book?  The answer to that is yes and was probably one of the easiest types of books to write.  It was a study manual for the undergraduate statistics class I was teaching.  There were no subjective thoughts, no hidden “who done it” clues, or heroes or heroines.  It was a factual, mathematical, educational book.  But like almost every other book, there were errors and constant corrections to be made to it.

            There is one book which does not meet this litmus test – the Holy Bible.  The Bible is not flawed, has no errors, and has everything you would want in a book.  It has portions in it on the law, but it is not a law book.  It has an accurate depiction of history, but it is not a history book.  It has songs in it, but it is not a hymnal.  It even has love stories in it, but it is not a romance novel.

            1 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.”  If this is true, why do we argue about its meaning?  The better question is this: how can we fully understand its meaning with our finite, imperfect minds if it is inspired by the One who has an infinite, perfect mind?  The answer is we can’t. 

            The key to accepting God’s Word is faith.  There is no way we can fully understand the full application of His Word.  But it is by faith that we accept it, no matter what it says.  So why do we pick and choose what we want to believe and discount the rest?  We can’t be “Buffet Christians” and be effective for the Kingdom.  We either believe what God says, cover to cover, or we don’t.

            There are so many people these days trying to tell people, “Oh, that’s not what God is saying there.”  While much of the Bible is not black and white, there is a great deal that is.  “Thou shall not kill,” pretty straight forward.  “Love thy neighbor as yourself,” pretty straight forward.  Questioning God is as old as Satan getting Adam and Eve to question God’s instructions to them, and we see how that turned out.

            God’s Word speaks to us individually.  That’s what makes our relationship with God an intimate, one-on-one relationship.  If you have questions or are confused about specific scripture, go to the author in prayer and ask for clarity.  Godly counsel is good, but counsel from God is the best.  Have questions?  Take it up with the author!