Stumbling Block or Stepping Stone

Author: Mark Fenstermacher
August 20, 2020

Stones can get in our way and cause us to stumble. Or stones can be a stepping stone that allows us to stand where we want to stand and see what we want to see.

It's the same thing with the Bible: read one way it can be a stumbling block and read another way it can be a stepping stone that allows us to see the mystery goodness, creativity, extravagance, love and faithfulness of God.

The Bible is actually not one book but 66 books written by God-inspired people over generations. It is, in fact, a library of different kinds of writings: historical, wisdom literature, poetry, prophetic, apocalyptic, gospels and epistles (letters). Each needs to be read and interpreted in a way that is appropriate to the text.

You wouldn't go to a blues club and expect to hear Albert King playing Bach as violinist Joshua Bell might play the same piece. If you do expect Bach from Albert King, you'll be frustrated and miss the magic of the blues. Some people (both literalists on the liberal side and literalists on the traditional side) come to the Genesis creation stories (there are more than one!) and expect them to be an engineering/science handbook but they aren't that at all.

The opening chapters of Genesis aren't attempting to explain the how but the why and the who. The question we are to ask isn't "How could there be morning and evening before the sun was created?" and instead it is "Who is God and what does this story tell us about God, about us, and about creation?"

When we don't understand how to approach the Bible in a living way, respecting the different kinds of texts, being willing to question and wrestle with what God may be telling us about the divine nature and the human journey, the Bible becomes a stumbling block.

This coming week we are beginning an exciting 8-week sermon series that will help us engage the Bible in a way that helps us stand where we need to stand. We'll be reading through some amazing stories (bring your favorite Bible!), assisted by Rachel Held Evan's marvelous book "Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again" (Thomas Nelson).

Join us on the journey. Be prepared to see the Bible in a new way - not as a stumbling block to faith but as a stepping stone to an encounter with the living God.

Grace and peace.
Mark Fenstermacher

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