Back to Vocation

Home » Growing in Faith » Vocation » Ministry in Daily Life » Biblical Insights » Five Hard Questions

We all approach the Bible with invisible and unknown prejudices and biases. Here are "five hard questions" to ask as you approach Bible study or Bible reading, perhaps helping you with your own "invisible and unknown":

1. Do you think of biblical characters — especially Old Testament heroes and Jesus' disciples — as essentially like you, in terms of their membership and attachment to a local congregation of fellow believers? (Most likely most of them were NOT attached to a "church" as you know it.)
    
2. What really bothered and angered Jesus about the religious institutions of his day, and their leaders? (Be careful here, or you might be projecting onto Jesus' day things that are more true of today's religious institutions.)
    
3. Who gets ignored in the biblical stories, or our retelling of them? And who gets the consistent glare of our spiritual spotlights? Do you see any problems or possibilities in comparing the two?
    
4. How much does your study and application of the Bible require "extra-ordinariness" (or heroic activity) as the expected response to God's will? Is there any room in your biblical interpretation for ordinary, everyday spirituality?
    
5. In what ways does the context of a Bible passage or story match your lifestyle and living context? In what ways does is not? (Be careful again, because you may be imposing impossible conditions on contemporary life OR ignoring subtle similarities that are easily overlooked.)