I'd like it if everyone could read this whole post. You'll see why in a few minutes.

I call some of these posts 'whiteboard therapy'. Simply put, it means that I'm working through thoughts with the freedom to erase. I believe that to really let the Bible touch our deepest places, we must have permission to be wrong from time to time. I also believe that we need permission to be right (far less easy to swallow in our society).

To partake in whiteboard therapy, one must carefully and reverently tread in a land where the Word itself is sacred, but man's interpretation of the Word is not. This isn't to say that existing interpretations are wrong, just that I want to arrive at them for myself, so that I can own them and live them with greater fortification and conviction. You may be familiar with the term 'sacred cows', as in "we're starving to death, but we can't eat this cow because it is sacred." It's kind of like that. If I'm going to interpret the Word, I need permission to be wrong and permission to be right. If we're starving with pat answers and interpretations that have lost their meaning, we don't have to blindly follow. We can reclaim them, understand them more fully, and on that rare occasion, allow the Spirit to show us something completely new in the text.

"For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.” - Matthew 18:20 (NLT)

We also need a community to interpret with. I like group Bible study because there are people to watch out for each other and to make sure we aren't straying into un-Godly territory. I'd like this blog to be a place for that online. Currently there are about 100 unique users coming here each week, yet it's only once in awhile that anyone posts a comment. So I'm going to try something new, and hopefully it will catch on.

I'd like to invite you to interpret scripture so that we can apply it to our lives. Each Thursday I'm going to put something up and make sure it doesn't leave the front page until the following Thursday. It's okay to be wrong and it's okay to be right. I'd also like it if you wouldn't post anonymously, because I want this to be a safe space to throw out ideas and dig in together, and because I believe that Jesus wants to free us from having to hide who we are and what we think. However, if posting anonymously is the only way you feel comfortable posting, it's okay to do so.

So that's the plan. I'll post the first one this time next week. Let's pray:

Father, as we interpret your word here and in our lives, we ask for a special blessing. We pray that your Spirit will guide us and teach us. We pray that you will give us wisdom and knowledge so that we can understand these things for ourselves and live them more fully in our lives. May your glory burst forth both in your word and in the lives of those who meditate on it day and night. Amen.

Labels: Jesus