So, what does the Bible say about __? You can fill in that blank with any number or words, issues, causes, and concerns. I heard someone just this morning saying the US is in the Bible and the Bible has a lot to say about our country. Really?
Where might that be?
The truthful answer to many of those filled-in blanks is that the Bible says nothing about some particular concerns of ours. Nuclear energy? Global warming? Even sexual orientation as we now understand it is not in scripture.
The Bible knows nothing about our current understanding of science. The scientific method came along many centuries later. Now, the Bible does know about caring for the earth, it does know about relationships, it does know about human life on this planet. It just doesn’t directly speak to all and every issue of life and living.
The goal of our faith is not to declare of every major issue and concern: Here is the truth. Rather the role of scripture is to teach us how to discern the truth. What biblical principles might apply to some current concern? What does believing and trusting we have a loving and forgiving God have to say to some issues? What does believing and knowing we are to take care of the earth have to say about some of our present hot button topics?
I confess to being a bit tired of hearing too many colleagues over the years complain, “Seminary never taught me about this!” Usually my response is that I never understood my seminary as saying they were going to teach me all I needed to know as a pastor. Instead I understood my seminary education as preparing us to think theologically and biblically for those issues that would pop up in the future; issues in the 1970’s when I attended seminary could not have been anticipated.
What do you know about God from the Bible? What do you know about God’s will for us and the earth and for each other from the Bible? Broad, general principles in some ways, yes, but understandings that can be used when new challenges confront us.
God is good. God is love. God is forgiving. God is concerned about us and all people. God is concerned about this earth. Not bad starting points.
