Whatever you might think of Nicodemus, you have to give him credit for discovering 2,000 years ago, what it took 1,900 years for the fact-fundamentalists to discover- Literalism! To wholly subscribe to such a concept leads one to positions like: the earth is flat, the sun moves around the earth, and so on. Of course only a few believe the Bible 100% literally (yes there are some). Most only believe in a literal approach when it suits their theology.
Same argument and principle that metaphorical-historians use.
What ever happend to practical, common sense, maybe even Spirit-led approach to Biblical interpretation? Why does something have to be either or, my way or the highway? How about an and-also, I’d love to hear your thoughts approach? To hard for the ego to take?
Let’s keep Nicodemus as an historical figure and get on with the meanings behind the sayings; particularly those of Jesus. Marcus Borg said it this way, “Like all good metaphors, heart has more than one nuance of meaning. What is the heart of the matter? What is the animating and driving force of the stories being told”?
We don’t want to go there because that takes too much time!
I discovered decades ago that I wanted to give my life to Christ.
So, I did!
But I have increasingly discovered that my idea of just how much time I’d give Him wasn’t what He had in mind. You’d think He was a very hard task master who is demanding a pretty serious return on his investment in our lives. Ever read Matthew 25 (parable of the Talents) or Luke 19 (parable of the pounds)? Is God saying LITERALLY that if we don’t give Him a great ROI that He’ll “cast us into outer darkness“?
Not my God!
But there you go! Isn’t that the center or the controversy? Don’t we all have our own personal God: meaning our interpretation of the one and only Almighty God? And don’t we tailor-design Him to our own liking? One day we want Him to do this, the next day to turn His head and not watch. One day we need a huge favor and the next day we need for Him to wink and forgive us.
This I know. Whenever we DEFINE God, we don’t know Him. Whenever we have WORDS to DESCRIBE Him, they are just the beginning of what is not enough. There are no words, but we begin there. As that Stabucks cup of coffee in your hand advertizes (their movie that comes out this weekend- Akeelah & The Bee), we are “Changing the world, one word at a time”.
Are you? It happens every time you spend time with Him.
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