\n<\/p>\n
Although my three children are now (dear God, please) well-adjusted 20-somethings, mine was the generation of parents who hovered over their children to insulate them from failure and\u00a0ensure\u00a0their \u201csuccess\u201d in life (good grades, sports, avoiding drugs, learning violin, whatever).<\/p>\n
But, as any decent child psychologist (not to mention previous generations of parents) will tell us, good parenting isn\u2019t about plugging in the right coordinates to\u00a0ensure\u00a0children arrive at the right spot, or protecting them from failure and pain that come with growth, or arranging their environment so that it all works out for them.<\/p>\n
Good parenting is preparing children to figure things out for themselves as they go along in life, i.e., hovering early on but then looking for ways to stop hovering as soon as possible.<\/p>\n
Now, you can focus in on some portions of the Bible in isolation\u2014say the exodus period with all its strict laws\u2014and it sure looks like God is hovering and micromanaging Israel\u2019s every move to make sure they \u201cturn out O.K.\u201d: Don\u2019t worship idols, sacrifice this and that at certain days and times, be sure to eat foods only from column A, not from column B, etc.<\/p>\n
But when I look at the Bible\u00a0as a whole\u2014<\/em>not individual stages on the journey\u2014I see a very different picture.<\/p>\n The Bible gives\u00a0diverse information<\/em>\u00a0on even some of the most basic questions of faith. This diverse information really can\u2019t be\u2014and I feel shouldn\u2019t be\u2014harmonized to yield \u201cone lesson\u201d or any such thing. Rather, I feel the presence of this diversity brings us to a different conclusion.<\/p>\n Take God, for instance.<\/p>\n If you look to the Bible to find out what God is like, you won\u2019t find a handy information packet. You see varying portraits of God<\/strong>. Depending on where you read,<\/p>\n I think the reason the Bible exhibits such diversity of information concerning God\u2019s behaviors (just one example) is that the Bible reflects different moments in Israel\u2019s spiritual journey. Israel\u2019s understanding of God<\/strong> grows, shifts, changes, etc., over time, thus reflecting \u201cwhere they are\u201d at the moment.<\/p>\n The Bible records a journey.<\/p>\n A great place to see in a nutshell how the Bible isn\u2019t set up to micromanage our process of growth is Proverbs, Israel\u2019s book of wisdom. Proverbs 26:4 and 5 summarize the entire issue, as I see it;<\/p>\n \u201cOK, God, which is it? Which one do I do now? Tell me! The first or the second?\u201d Deafening silence.<\/p>\n What you do depends on the situation you are in, and guess what:\u00a0you get\u00a0to figure that out God giving you hints to make sure you get the right answer.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Wisdom<\/em><\/a> is the goal of the maturation process, and it can\u2019t be scripted with assured success. It\u2019s about learning how to negotiate life\u2019s moments when they come up.<\/p>\n Personally, I think that is a great way of summarizing the process of parenting and<\/em> spiritual growth.<\/p>\n A Bible\u00a0that exhibits such diversity<\/em>\u00a0does not do well as a script to\u00a0ensure\u00a0success.\u00a0I think the Bible functions very differently, on what I feel is a deeper and more profound level.<\/p>\n If I may rephrase all of this: the Bible\u2019s theological diversity<\/a> (which is unmistakable) alerts me that treating it as a hovering index of \u201cwhat to do\u201d sells the Bible short.<\/strong><\/p>\n If we reflect on it for a moment, common experience demonstrates that the answers to what confronts our day-to-day lives of faith are most often not found in \u201cBible verses.\u201d Rather, the Bible models for us a spiritual journey of failure, success, adaptation, growth, change\u2014<\/strong>which is far more immediately relevant to God\u2019s people, then and now.<\/p>\n I think the point of the life of faith is to\u00a0become wise<\/em><\/span> over time, and not to be trained to know which page to flip to find a one-size-fits-all answer.<\/p>\n ***The original version of this post appeared in July\u00a02013. I write more about how the Bible works in the life of faith in\u00a0The Sin of Certainty<\/a><\/strong><\/em>\u00a0(HarperOne, 2016) and\u00a0The Bible Tells Me So<\/a><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(HarperOne, 2014).***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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God doesn\u2019t hand it to you. God doesn\u2019t micromanage. We aren\u2019t on a leash to keep us from making mistakes.<\/h2>\n