I regularly receive email updates from Author Steve Cuss. I found this particular email update to be helpful and insightful. I share it here for your benefit as well. - Chad
Steve Cuss writes:
One of my favorite sections of The Expectation Gap was when I tackled our approach to the Bible and how that approach is keeping us bound and stuck.
When we teach scripture, we're prone to focus on one person—for example, Peter or Mary, the sister of Martha. We pull out one trait they exhibit and then challenge each other to focus on that trait in ourselves. We read Peter walking on water, and we challenge ourselves to step out in faith. We read Mary sitting at Jesus' feet while Martha was scurrying around, and we think about ways that we are too hurried and how we ought to sit and soak at Jesus' feet more often.
Pick a Bible character and strip them of nuance and dimension so they neatly fit an application point. Now, work on that trait in yourself.
There are multiple problems with this. But here are two:
1) Once you have been a follower of Christ for a while, you end up with quite a pile of Bible characters and traits you need to be like. Over time, you carry the burden of stepping out like Peter, contemplating like Mary, being brave like Esther or Daniel, pondering things like mother Mary, and so on. Over time, we stack all these individuals into a fictional super disciple.
The reality is none of them were much like each other. Peter and Mary were likely very unlike each other, but we expect to be the best of both of them.
2) The authors of scripture aren't interested in showing us the mundane lives of these people. The point is to show what God is doing and how people are responding. All of these 'application points' happened once to the Bible character, but we carry them in an ongoing way. Peter walked once, but we feel low-grade pressure to step out in faith all the time.
Is it ok to take a vacation from stepping out in faith? And is that what Peter actually did, or is that what we teach that he did when, in fact, something altogether different was happening?
This morning, I did a load of laundry and ran an errand for a party we're hosting tonight. Yesterday, I took my dog on a long walk. None of those activities is mentioned in the Bible. The authors give us a truncated history, not a reflection of the typical day of a disciple. Did they ever recreate?
The Gospels record 52 - 57 total days of Jesus' ministry. His total ministry lasted around 1350 days.
The Gospel writers recorded 4.2% of Jesus' total ministry. Not his total life, just the 3.5 years of his ministry. What did he and the disciples do in that remaining 95.8% of time not recorded?
No wonder we think we should be further along. We're playing a rigged game.
Again, my beef is not with the Bible. I remain a full-fledged Bible Nerd. I believe it to be the inspired word of God. My beef is the way we wield it against each other to curry more faith and more commitment.
That is why we encourage folks to try less and die more. That is why we talk about relaxing into God's presence.
The Bible is fundamentally given for us to worship and encounter God. We are prone to use it for spiritual improvement.
I dig into this much more in The Expectation Gap and provide tools for us to approach scripture the way it is designed—tools to encounter God exactly where we are.
More information about Steve and his work can be found at: https://capablelife.com/
I’m guilty of this!! I’m going to need to take awhile to unpack his thoughts. Thanks for sharing.