January 2021 was the 4th year I've completed the 30 Day Bible Shred. As always, it was a challenge that required sacrificing some usual things and discipline to finish off on time, but highly beneficial to my own personal bible study.
2020 was incredibly significant for me as I was put in a place where I was able to reinvigorate a passion for studying the bible. I was introduced to all sorts of themes and theologians that shifted how I read the bible. As a result, doing the 30 day bible shred was very different as I was now traversing the bible down different roads - highways that I never knew existed! There were two sources that taught me the most in 2020 that created new routes for my bible roadmap.
Firstly was the BibleProject Podcast series. Like many people, I've watched a lot of their videos and listened to some of their content. But I committed to listening to every podcast from when they first started. One thing that I never really grasped from their videos was the concept of intentional design patterns that the biblical authors put in place. I'm wanting to write about this more soon, but suffice to say that there are patterns in the bible that change they way you read it that really enhances the story of Jesus, and God's sovereignty on mankind
The second was "The Unseen Realm" by Michael Heiser. I have so much to share about this amazing book, but for now I'll just say that it makes navigating the strange parts of the Bible a lot easier. It also highlights the conjunction of Jesus and our role as Christians to play a part.
These new pathways of understanding the scriptures highlighted subtle hints in language and themes that I'd previously ignored or misunderstood. And the intentional vagueness in some of the stories was more evident and forced me to think about the character's journey rather than the meaning behind it.
What did I get our of the 2021 Bible Shred:
As a result of reading the bible with these new lenses, this is what really stood out to me in this year's shred:
The unity of the story across the whole bible
There are many consistent themes including God's sovereignty, humanity's need for a Saviour, and the intervention of the Spirit that is evident throughout the whole Bible. Whats amazing is that this was writing by multiple authors across multiple centuries in different cultures and languages without a big budget. We can’t even get the Star Wars story consistent with some of the most talented writers and a near infinite resource pool. It takes divine intervention to get the bible right, and this is something that is really important to remember as a Christian
There is an overwhelming amount of story telling dedicated to how God wants to be in communion with mankind
God's anger and judgement is brought up a lot in pop culture, but that is only a minor part of how the bible describes God. What is highlighted is that we are invited in to a unique relationship with a deity like no other. All the other gods in the bible don't seem to be interested in ritual and sanctification as a way to be in relationship with their people. But a divine God provides clear cultural instructions that shows His people exactly how to be in a relationship with Him. And most of these instructions have formed modern morality as we know it today
Our understanding of what is “fair” often doesn’t match up to what God has planned for us
Being justified and treated the way you perceive as fair is something that seems to be deeply embedded in Hebrew writings. The book of Job is a good example. We're given a divine perspective of a mental wrestle between man and God on what is fair and the nature of suffering and reward. Does this mean that fairness is a human/flesh construct that will distract us from being obedient? Or is it a built in mechanism that we need to learn to manage and overcome in order to be an effective disciple? I don't have an answer, and I am wanting to meditate on this a lot more.
We're introduced to characters who could fulfil the ideal of representing mankind's union with God, but their actions shows us their flaws and incompatibility to play this role
It's starts with Adam and Eve, but they invoke the fall of man. Then there are more great people like Abraham, Joseph, Moses - but each of the people present flaws that prevent them from being the person that could unite mankind with God. This only heightens the significance of Jesus. This is all foundational theology, but keeping in mind that the authors wrote this content centuries before Jesus came displays the consistent themes in the bible.
Based my insights, here is what I'm looking forward to learning in 2021
Do more research to expand the story, not to find answers
By default I've tried to look for answers when I encounter questions in the bible. But if I come with the understanding that a lot of these questions are a result of meditation literature that I should ponder on rather than solve, my researching and study should be about expanding the story and the world of the bible.
Reread the same stories
I've found that there are a lot of great insights in the stories that I'm most familiar with, but that therein lies the danger - I've become complacent with what the bible actually says. Rather than relying on what I remember about a story or what someone else has told me, I'll be going over the actual story themselves line by line and making sure my own perception of the bible isn't distorting what the author is trying to say
Expand my imagination
Some of my favourite theologians love fictional stories, especially the work of CL Lewis and JRR Tolkien. I've read the Lord of the Rings and all the Chronicles of Narnia, but not specifically with a theological perspective in mind. My goal is to convey the message of the bible without using Christianese, and its by using my imagination and creativity that I'll be able to do this - so I should see how some of the best have done that
Do this journey with others
I would say that a lot of my pride has stopped me from opening up about studying the bible. I either want to ensure I know what I'm talking about so I don't look silly, or want to show off my understanding of the scriptures - neither of these help with discipleship. When it comes to talking about the bible, I'm learning to be ok with saying "no I've never heard of that idea and I don't understand what you're saying" or "this is what helped my understand this aspect". If we're genuinely wanting to help disciple one another, then we need to be willing to help show the pathways (or lack of pathways) on our own bible roadmap to help other develop their own.
My 30 Day Bible Shred for 2021 was definitely tricky. Amidst some complicated work projects, the early stages of building a house, and a toddler who seems to define the "terrible twos", there was some days that were a lot harder to get the reading done. But the end result was definitely worth it. Hopefully this inspires someone to do the Bible Shred themselves, or look at the bible with new eyes and with help with developing their own roadmap.