About a year ago, I started a blog post and came up with this catchy first line:  “Why is the Bible so hard to read and understand?”  I must have abandoned that blog post idea fairly quickly, because that was all I wrote. It’s still a legitimate question.  But this week when I read that first line, a new thought popped into my head: The Bible is hard to understand when we impose our expectations on it.  

You may have heard me refer to Jon and Tim at The Bible Project before.  The way they speak about and teach through Scripture really allows the Bible to say what it wants to say. For example, Jon will often ask these really good questions about a verse or passage, and rather than just simply answer the question, Tim figuratively backs up and refocuses on what the biblical authors were trying to say. It doesn’t always directly answer Jon’s questions. But it does provide a fuller understanding of what the original authors were trying to communicate.  I find myself resonating with Jon’s questions. In fact, I see now that I have tried for years to make the Bible fit into my own boxes.  I want it to answer the big, nagging questions!  I want it to just tell me straight: what do I do?  How should I behave?  What is God like? What do I do with my life? Instead, it takes us through centuries-long stories and poems and genealogies and covenants which feel slow and arduous and less-than-clarifying. 

Three years ago, Joel and I went to Maine together.  It was our first time exploring the East Coast.  We flew into Portland and wanted to spend a few days in Bar Harbor, so we decided against taking the more direct interstate route and instead, opted to take the slower side roads which followed the coast.  While this drive wasn’t quick (in fact, it was painfully slow due to stop lights and slow speeds), it was a more scenic route.  Then, this summer we decided to take our kids to Maine.  After spending a night in Portland, we drove to Bar Harbor and this time, opted to take the interstate.  There is an advantage to traveling the interstate:  no stops, faster speeds, and usually a pretty straight shot to where you are going.  You may not see as much in terms of scenery...but you’re gonna get there quickly.

Reading the Bible can be like the two paths to Bar Harbor.  We often come to the Bible with expectations:  what is God’s will for my life?  What kind of a spouse should I marry?  How was the Earth created?  Who is God?  Who was Jesus?  What would Jesus want me to do in this situation?  We assume that, since it is God’s Word, it should have the answers for us.  And when we approach it this way, it’s like we’re taking the interstate route.  Quick, easy, straight to the point.  Just tell me what I need to know.

But the Bible, as it is written, is far from a manual on how to live life.  Rather, it is compiled over centuries by various writers from different cultures for different reasons.  The questions we often ask of it leave us frustrated and distort so much of what is actually written.  Is it possible that we expect too much?  If we follow the process of Jon and Tim (and many other biblical scholars), we might pay closer attention to the way the biblical authors wrote.  We might listen to what they had to say.  And we might loosen our grip on finding answers and instead, ease into a methodical reading and rereading of these ancient texts.  Yes, God’s Spirit moves and works in these words. But it seems that, like the more scenic route to Bar Harbor, the Bible takes us on a slower and more winding road through small towns, along rivers, into forests, and across arid deserts as we join with others who share their experiences of journeying in faith.  It is a long story in God’s faithfulness, rather than a How-To-Live-Your-Best-Life manual.  

If, to you, the Bible at times feels cryptic and hard to understand, you are in good company. We have to do a little work to find it’s meaning, don’t we? Part of that work might be finding good authors, teachers, or scholars who can help us uncover context that we just simply don’t know. We’ve linked some of our favorites in the resources section of our blog. The Bible Project is my go-to right now. But we also have to recognize that the questions we have may take time to find answers. And in the meantime, the Bible invites us into an age-old story of people coming to see God’s goodness and faithfulness in the midst of the normal stuff of life. So keep reading and wondering and asking…and settle in. This route takes time—but the views are amazing!