Using Scripture

Several years ago a parent was talking with me about struggles she was having with her teenage daughter. Mostly, I perceived, she wanted someone to listen. I told her that although I had once been a teenage girl I only raised a son and so may not be able to speak into her lived experience much. She was ok with that and began sharing. One of the biggest issues was that she caught her daughter lying to her many times about where she had been, who she was with, her school work, most every aspect of her life. She finally declared “I’ve told her to stop. I’ve grounded her. I’ve taken away privileges and she keeps doing it. I don’t know what else to do.” She then asked me if I could give her a list of Bible verses that talk about lying so that she could make her daughter write them over and over.

I took a deep breath and shifted from pastoral presence to pastoral advising as I cautioned her about using scripture as a weapon. I encouraged her to ask her daughter, with genuine curiosity and without condemnation, why she felt it necessary to lie? And I encouraged her to be open to whatever the answer may be, even if that answer was critical of her parenting techniques. And then I spoke of the purpose of scriptures. Yes, they are to be used to instruct us how to be God’s beloved but it isn’t a rule book. The Bible is a collection of stories told by our faith ancestors about their experience with the Living, Loving, and Liberating God.

Scripture tells us how God’s people through the generations have chosen to follow God’s path of Love and how so very often they chose not to and the consequences of each choice. And it shows that regardless of how often or how far people wandered away from God, God continues to pursue us and reminds us that we are all created beloved. When we cherry pick parts of scripture and use them as a weapon we are misusing it. When we use scripture to open our eyes to see God at work in the world and to grow better and better at discerning what is of God and what is not, then we are using scripture as we should.

And so, this story leads me to a thing currently happening in the US: a public national reading of the Bible by political leaders and social influencers from April 21-25. Well, they are claiming it’s public but are charging $50 per day to listen, so not really public but another way to make money off of the false faith they are forcing on us.

Now, to be clear, I’m all for reading scripture. I love both participating in and leading Bible Studies. I use scripture to open me up to the shaping and transformation of the Spirit in me on a daily basis. I am a priest in a church that reads the majority of the Bible in our Sunday worship over a three year cycle, and in a church that promotes daily reading by clergy and lay people using what we call the Daily Office that covers the majority of the Bible on a two year cycle. I’ve led numerous groups in the Bible in 90 Days and the Bible in a Year. I know how important spending time with scripture regularly is for our discipleship. However …

The hypocrisy of many of the high profile readers is beyond any negative adjective I can think of in the English language. The president has posted images portraying himself as Jesus and then lied about thinking it was portraying him as a doctor. The vice president has attempted to correct the Pope regarding Catholic doctrine. The secretary of war (formerly defense) thought a disturbingly violent monologue from the movie Pulp Fiction was from the Bible. And these are just the most recent actions that blatantly reject the teachings of scripture such as peace making, love, compassion, humility, and justice. This is the administration that took food assistance away from millions yet finds unlimited funds to kill people in the middle east. This is the administration that has eliminated health coverage for many so that people have to take on extra jobs, such as delivering fast food, to pay for a loved one’s medical expenses. This is the administration who has pardoned those who violently stormed the capital in January 2021, many of whom have been arrested again for violent offenses. This is the same administration that has gone to exceedingly ridiculous lengths to cover up a well documented pedophile and sexual predator cabal.

It feels very much like this ‘national reading of scripture’ is being used as yet another weapon to force their religion of violent nationalism on the rest of us. So, instead of participating in it, or condemning it, lets find helpful and edifying way to spend time reading scripture with others with open hearts and curious minds. If you are part of a church community, check out what Bible Studies are offered and, if possible, join one. If your church isn’t offering any, ask if you can help organize one. There are many easy to lead studies available for free or limited cost. If you are not participating in a church community currently, gather some friends and agree on a part of scripture to read and meet weekly to talk it through with some accessible online resources.

Here’s a few resources to get you started:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/daily-readings/

https://bibleproject.com/