Living It Out

This year we are going to be journeying through the book, Following King Jesus by Scot McKnight and Becky Castle Miller. The book itself works through the McKnight's books King Jesus Gospel, The Blue Parakeet, One Life, and A Fellowship of Differents. The purpose of the book is to focus on following Jesus as a disciple. It can be done individually or in a group setting.

In Lesson 8 of McKnight and Miller's book Following King Jesus, we find ourselves in a wrestling match. Wrestling with Scripture leads us to the question of, "how do we live out our faith?"

What is brought up in the chapter is how we want to follow the scriptures because we believe that it can be a guide to our lives. I have heard Christians say, "I follow the Bible," "I live a biblical life," and "I allow the scriptures to guide my life." I think at the heart of what people are saying is they try to live their life following the ways of God. The exciting thing about following the scriptures is that we pick and choose what to follow. Now we all have our reasons for why we follow some and not other parts of the Bible.

The book, however, is trying to teach us that by interacting with the Bible, we find ways to use discernment. By engaging with the scriptures, we have to confront different stories and commands of God that force us into a wrestling match with who we are and who God is. I believe it is in this wrestling that we are transformed and begin to know God more intimately. That is why reading the Bible is so foundational for me as a Christian. There is something about the Word that forces me to engage with my whole self. The result of my wrestling leaves me transformed.

I guess in order to live out the Bible; one must first wrestle with it.