Lately I've been thinking, obedience to the Lord is first the right attitude (or is it perspective?), and second it's all about trying to understand what the Bible says and what it doesn't say. I remember seeing a special on TV a few months ago about our vision and how our brains assume things that didn't really happen so that the world makes sense when we don't really see what happened. For example, it's really pretty hard in baseball to "keep your eye on the ball", though the coach stresses it over and over. The truth is that the ball reaches a point where you can't see it anymore - or good enough to know exactly where it is in the imaginary box known as the strike zone. (That's a deep thought - when I'm batting, I'm thinking in 2-D and 3-D at the same time!) So what can you do? Your brain actually supplies a solution: it fills in the gap of where it thinks it should be - and then you swing and miss. Enough practice and your brain starts to guess right.
I wonder if I read the Bible like that. I don't understand something, so I fill in the gaps. I paint a picture that is possibly wrong so I can get through the story. I may get the moral or I may find one powerful scripture to guide me, but I wonder how far I skew things. This question is another example.
I have loved Ray Vanderlaan's teaching on Jesus as Rabbi for a couple of years now. I just found and read a blog that positions itself against these teachings, and I had to agree on some major points. If you are fascinated by the question, "Was Jesus a Rabbi?", then check out the links on my nav bar. First have fun with Follow the Rabbi. Then after pondering these thoughts check out the Blog against Follow the Rabbi. I would love for you to post your thoughts here.