The Authority and Inspiration 03-02-16

But when it’s all said and done, there must be something deeper and more significant about the story line of the Bible than choice of words and grammatical structures. One well-known pastor writes, “Many of the people who come to the church I serve don’t believe in the Bible when they come. They’re skeptical. I don’t tell them they have to believe it. I just try to present it. I try to be honest about the parts that confuse me. I try to focus on the parts that are abundantly clear and profitable (and I am quite certain that my lifetime will end before I reach the last of those things!). And over time, I notice that people come to share my respect for and trust in the Bible as a needed, dependable, enlightening, unique, challenging, fascinating resource for spiritual seekers … a book with God’s fingerprints all over it and his breath behind the words.”(McLaren 2003, p. 244)

What’s the authority behind the Bible? How could stories written by frail and faulty human beings about God and God’s dealing with the human family have authority? Maybe there’s something to be said for integrity and authenticity, being real with the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly, the successes and the failures, the faithfulnesses and betrayals, the ups and the downs. One thing is for sure, the Bible doesn’t gloss over much. It doesn’t whitewash the stories. It tells it all in its attempts to describe how God intersects with humanity, how the Creator attempts to reconcile with a rebellious family, how the Redeemer tirelessly and passionately and tenaciously works to bring about trust and hope and restoration to what God has always wanted for the world. Isn’t there a certain amount of authority that comes from this kind of transparency and honesty?

The Bible is a “book with God’s fingerprints all over it and his breath behind the words.” It has been one of the most revered and beloved and used resources for spiritual seekers down through the ages. It is a source of comfort and hope, of challenge and rebuke, of encouragement and support, a mirror for growth, a light to show the path. It refuses to let you sit still. It prods you to move forward, to take action, to engage dialogue, and to launch into adventure. It continually challenges your picture of God and your experience of life. And in the end, maybe all that is enough to find in it true authority and inspiration.