I John 2-II John-III John-Jude
I want to arrange the Bible! After listening to this section what I understand is that it isn't all the stuff in the Bible--it is how it is arranged. I John is stuck way at the back and so few people ever really get to it. They are so lost in Romans, confused in Corinthians and disgusted in Timothy that they just give up! They never get to hear "the GOSPEL" in I John.
Ok, my bias is coming out! But what a great difference it would make if we moved I John forward in the Bible. I might even propose putting it first--before you even hear the story of Jesus what you need to understand is "God is love, and everyone who loves God also loves each other! Now that you know that, hear the story."
What a difference that would make! Just imagine how that would completely alter the way we hear so much of what would follow. The question we would ask is not, "Is this right?" but rather, "Is this loving?" Is it really loving to treat people this way? Is it loving to have slaves, to force women to live as 2nd class citizens, and on and on we could go. When I get to put the Bible together, I John is going first!
To be honest, I was so caught up in I John that the next two letters were a blur. Jude caught my attention with the legendary and apocryphal stories that seem to have helped shape his theology. I found myself thinking of the legends that shape my own theology--the legends of the Bible, the legends of our country, the legends of my life. Legends are the stories that shape us--different from history, from fact. They are the way we choose to interpret events. What happens if you don't accept the legend, the myth? Are you really rejected by God?
See why I John needs to be first! God is love!
1 comment:
I'm with you, Don -- I absolutely love 1 John! If I were going to rearrange the Bible, though, I don't know if I would put it at the beginning of the New Testament, or somewhere in the middle of all the Pauline letters. That way the reader could have a break from Paul and a chance to remember why we like the Bible at all! It's such a fantastic letter. How many times does he say the word "love" in these short chapters? I don't know exactly, but it's a lot! I couldn't help but smile just hearing it, and was moved to tears by chapter 4 especially. I think it was particularly poignant because I listened to it this afternoon, following the Stations of the Cross service that Deanna led. Remembering God's love as it was shown to us most powerfully in Christ was really special for me.
I also thought about how often people talk about God in terms of fear, how many "conversion experiences" I've heard of that came about because of the person being afraid of hell. But here we are told, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear" just after we were told "God is love." I definitely think chapter 4 is a key passage in my own "meta-narrative," one of the pivotal texts of my theology. THIS is the God I know and love, the One revealed to us in a Savior who said, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends," and then did just that. I'm so thankful to have heard these verses during Holy Week. What wondrous love, indeed.
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