Reading the Bible

By Denise Crane

Like most of the people I talk with, I am genuinely bewildered at how divided people of faith are currently when we all claim to believe in God. I have my own personal challenge at this moment wherein I am trying to understand how a person I care deeply about, and with whom I shared Christian leadership at one point, goes onto social media and posts material (usually passed on from whatever places they follow) that seems inconsistent with the belief system I thought we shared. When we taught, we used to use bible verses as talking points for our gatherings. I thought we were reading the same Bible.

I am not talking about various translations. I’m talking about swords and plowshares, spears into pruning hooks, love God and love your neighbor. “We” instead of “us” and “them”. Those seem fundamental to me.

So, I started thinking about how we each develop our biblical hermeneutic (my daughter would approve that I used a sophisticated word to describe how we interpret). After all, I taught Bible stories to four and five year olds that are now college students and I want to think I was consistent in finding the love message hidden in each Children’s Bible story we explored together. I want to do the same with my grandchildren.

I was delighted when my granddaughter came home from preschool to tell us that she had learned the story of David and Goliath. If I do say so myself, for a pretty newly minted four year old, she retains things pretty well. She could remember that Goliath was a giant. She knew he had a sword and a shield. Swords and shields are implements she is familiar with because, in our nerdy family, Lord of the Rings is introduced early. She knew David was little. And David only had a rock. She knew they had a battle. Her big announcement of the story was “David wins!”  We were so proud she could remember the story and, with some coaching, gave God the credit for helping David.

Nailed it!

I asked a couple of days later about the story and she had the details well intact, and reiterated that “David wins!”

And I started to wonder.  

To a four year old, how will “David wins!” take root in her thought processes? Will it internalize as a nod to our current culture trends that glorify winning? Will it grow into an inclination to root for the underdog? Will it lead to an impression that killing the other is the way that “we” win, or that God wins and the “other” loses? Might the interpretation be that, if we have faith and willingness, God can use our little efforts to do great things that move people to bigger, freer, and better futures? Will she understand stories as representations spoken into a specific time and space context so they are accessible to the people hearing them at the time?

I hope a few years from now I remember to go back and talk to her about this story. That I keep remembering to revisit all the stories and encourage open conversation about hermeneutics (her parents are English teachers so she will likely learn that word early!).  I know her parents will talk to her about these things and since “it takes a village” I pray our messaging is consistent.

In the meantime, I see more clearly than ever that words matter, and how we interpret words matters equally.  How do we internalize “David wins!”?