Have the Gospels become stale, predictable or even boring to you? For some of us, after years of studying the Bible we can lose some of the awe and wonder for the biographies about Jesus Christ. Martin Chairez presents the reasons why the gospels, generally speaking, are becoming low impact, predictable and boring. This episode engages a deeper take on how to read the gospels and why we have four of them. 

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OC Church of Christ

The Boring Gospels Become Relevant

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[00:00:00] Host: Welcome to the Deeper Dive podcast brought to you by the OC Church of Christ. The Deeper Dive podcast is about going deeper into God's word, learning new insight and taking a fresh look at the verses that impact our daily lives. Today we have the privilege of hearing from Martin Chairez. Martin and his wife, Tina, lead the Spanish ministry of The OC Church.

[00:00:30] Martin also serves as the director of the Tijuana Border Programs for HOPE worldwide.

[00:00:35] Martin also has an M.A. in Religious Education and Missional Leadership. In this episode, Martin is going to dive deeper into how to read the gospels and why we have four of them. So get your scuba gear and let's dive deep into God's word. Here's Martin Chairez.

[00:00:54] Martin: Greetings. my name is Martin Chairez and I'm grateful to be able to join our [00:01:00] OC deeper dive podcast.

[00:01:02] In this episode, I wanna perhaps open up a conversation about how. We should be reading the gospels. We are all at this point in our Christianity very much familiar with the four gospels that are in scripture.

[00:01:20] And what I wanna encourage us to think about today is. How we are currently engaging with those gospels. So our conversation today,~ uh,~ may not end with practicals and insights on what to do but more than anything, I think it's placing,~ uh,~ on the table here, a conversation to consider. To analyze,~ uh,~ whether we are having healthy engagement with the gospels.

[00:01:54] Um, so that's kind of what we're gonna be doing. Let me [00:02:00] start by asking this question. Do you ever feel bored in reading the gospels? Whether that's mark Matthew, John Luke, do you ever feel like. I've already read this. I already know what's going to happen. And it sounds bad to say out loud. Um, but perhaps you and I can relate.

[00:02:28] Uh, I think there was a period of time in my Christianity where I wanted to know more about Jesus. And at the same time, I felt like I wish there was more to know about Jesus besides. What's written in the four gospels, uh, because I think internally what I was wrestling and feeling was I'm kind of bored by reading the same stories over and over again.

[00:02:54] Now, obviously, There's a lot that I, I was way off in. Right. [00:03:00] Um, but perhaps you can, you can relate. I think what I wanna share today is I wanna present, like I said, a concern, uh, about how we may be, or not be engaging with. The gospels, uh, I wanna present a healthy criticism, um, to our current practices, generally speaking.

[00:03:20] Uh, and hopefully you receive an inspirational invitation, uh, to renew, uh, your engagement with the gospels. You know how we perceive, uh, the gospels or how we read the gospels both personally or communally, meaning as a church affects whether we are being formed to be a God centered people or formed to be a self centered or a church center, or even worse, a Christian hero centric.

[00:03:55] People, uh, what do I mean by that? I think there [00:04:00] is a tension that is taking place, uh, in Christianity, in general, in our own spiritual formation and in our own congregational formations. Uh, and the tension is whether we are going to be a God centered. People a God centered church, uh, or we are going to be a self centered people in a church centric church.

[00:04:29] Uh, what do I mean by that? I think how we read the gospels is going to determine where we're gonna end up now. We all want to be God centered people. But because we want that, that doesn't always mean we end up there. And I think, uh, as I'm going to share here a little bit, I think that, you know, the ways that we have maybe become board.

[00:04:58] With the gospels. [00:05:00] Um, the way that we have historically been trying to harmonize four gospels into one major narrative has hindered and influenced us, uh, uh, in a spiritual formation. So bear with me here as I, uh, kind of unpack what I'm introducing right now. So I, I wanna say here that I think there's four.

[00:05:27] Uh, concerns that, that I want to have for healthy criticisms, uh, on how we are reading one of the gospels or all four of the gospels. I think number one, um, these gospels have become a low impact scripture in our lives. Uh, I think we have become somewhat bored with them. I think when [00:06:00] we read them, they can become, uh, and feel like.

[00:06:04] Predictable. We already know, you know what God Jesus is going to do. We already know how the disciples respond. We already know what the Pharisees are going to do, and it's leading us towards. You know, passion week or the cross. Uh, and sometimes we're not emotionally ready to read. , uh, the passion account in these gospels.

[00:06:30] And so we tend to stop reading. And so, uh, what that, uh, produced this, uh, is. A very low impact, uh, gospel in our lives. Um, and then we, uh, become spiritually hungry because we're not being impacted by the gospels. And so we try to go to other books of the Bible, which is great. We go to other spiritual resources, which, which are [00:07:00] great.

[00:07:00] Um, but. We never want to become a people, a church that is no longer receiving high impact and high influence, uh, from. The gospels. Uh, and so how do we remedy that? Especially we've been around the faith for a very long time. Well, the problem here, number two, that I wanna lay out is that historically we have viewed the gospels as the prelude.

[00:07:37] Uh, that means that it's the introduction of something to something important. Uh, uh, so what I wanna present today is this criticism, this, you know, um, uh, This analysis that, um, we generally speaking have viewed the gospels as a prelude to the good stuff [00:08:00] rather than the good stuff. And so, for example, we'll read Luke, uh, and acts, um, from a historian perspective.

[00:08:11] Um, but Luke is not a historian. He's now writing. Uh, to remind us of the history. Uh, Luke is a theologian. Uh, there are theological themes in Luke that are healthy and relevant and fresh to us now. But. Because we have this view that, you know, this is what Jesus did before the church started. Uh, I think that perspective hinders us from encountering the gospel in new ways.

[00:08:49] So. Problem number one, it's having low impact. It's becoming predictable. It's become predictable. It's somewhat boring. Uh, it [00:09:00] shows us, uh, an inactive historical Jesus. That's not very relevant. Uh, problem. Number two, uh, I think we have this perspective where, uh, the gospels are. We view them as. You know, the introduction to something important.

[00:09:18] And so we want to get to the important stuff we want to get to the church in acts. We want to get to the letters we want to get to revelation, and then we're feeling somewhat confused, still or empty. Um, and I think it's, that's not the case. Uh, I think the gospels were actually written. Um, later, uh, not as history, but they were written later to speak to the context and the life of specific audiences and churches.

[00:09:52] And so the gospel should be read as. Not the prelude, but the main stuff , [00:10:00] um, which we'll get to in just in just a second. Let me share two more problems, uh, that I see us having, uh, number three, I think we're an anxiously driven. People anxiety driven people, uh, which we are driven because we're anxious and we live in a anxious culture.

[00:10:22] Uh, our lives are, are full of different tensions. We are rushing. Uh, obviously we're learning about slowing down. We're learning about spiritual practices, but that tension is still exists. But because of that anxiety, We are quickly driven to be entertained. Uh, okay. And what that means is that slowing down is agonizing, always slowing down is difficult.

[00:10:50] So to slow down and to read a gospel for a month or two months, That may be difficult for us, [00:11:00] um, because we are not in the habit of slowing down. Uh, if you're anything like me, uh, you are in the middle of three or four, Netflix shows , uh, and a new show's coming on and you wanna start it. Um, but you haven't finished the other ones or you, uh, you just picked up a new book, but you haven't finished the previous three or you're still learning about.

[00:11:24] Uh, healthy, uh, exercise, um, eating, uh, routines. Um, but you haven't practiced the ones that you learned before. And so we're, we're always, um, uh, uh, you know, Uh, gaining new things without completing what we, what we started that, that's kind of an example of what I mean by we are anxiously driven to entertainment and slowing down is agonizing.

[00:11:56] So how does that connect with the scriptures? Well, if [00:12:00] we are ready, Think, uh, we know the answers when we read the scriptures, we already think we know what's going to happen. If we're already anticipating answers and we are viewing the scriptures, the gospels as not the main thing, but as the prelude, uh, and we're driven towards entertainment.

[00:12:21] You see the, you see the process here. It's gonna become very difficult, uh, to slow down and to enjoy the gospel, uh, to enter the world of one of the gospels and fully be immersed in that world and walk it through to completion. That's gonna be difficult. Number four. And the, and the final concern that I wanna present is that again, historically, we have been trying to harmonize all four gospels into one, you know, nice [00:13:00] ordered.

[00:13:01] Chronological narrative. Um, but if God wanted to give us that he would've given us one harmonized gospel, instead he gives us four very different, very dynamic. Um, and so again, historically, we have. Been trying to harmonize, uh, this gospel into an order. It's because we are people that need to have order.

[00:13:31] We want to have certain control. Uh, we want to have predetermined outcomes to feel great about ourselves and that bleed into our engagement with scripture. And in this case, the gospels hope you're with me so far. And so what happens when we, uh, live in a world, uh, in, in an imaginative, biblical realm where we are trying to [00:14:00] harmonize the gospels?

[00:14:01] Well, it hinders our discernment in our spiritual formation. Um, you know, what, what ends up happening. Is that we miss out on the things that each gospel is presenting. And in just a second, I want to give you a quick summary of how different each gospel is. Um, but first I wanna, you know, kind of, uh, wrap up what I'm.

[00:14:27] Presenting these, these four problems. Uh, so hopefully you see that if you, uh, if we anticipate meaning, um, then we're no longer gonna be surprised. And so it has low impact in our lives. Uh, if we view it as history, Rather than theology, then we're not really engaging with the living God. Uh, we are creating an image of a distant, far away back in the day.

[00:14:57] God. Um, [00:15:00] and I think the gospels are written quite for the opposite purpose to, I think they're written to help us to see the relevant, current activities of the living. God. Um, and again, if we are, uh, viewing the gospel, um, as, you know, something that we already know, then we're gonna be easily bored and we're not gonna be engaged.

[00:15:28] We're gonna be, you know, spiritually, uh, nomads going from place to place without having. A foundation of entering a gospel world. I'm gonna use that phrase and living in that world, learning that world, being formed by the Jesus in that world. And I want to add more to that in just a second. Um, So hopefully I'm presenting [00:16:00] here, uh, a little bit of the challenges, uh, a little bit of healthy criticism to all of us, including myself, of course.

[00:16:10] Uh, but more importantly, an invitation. To encounter the gospels in new and refreshing ways. You know, the gospels are each their own unique world. They are not intended to be harmonized. Yes. There's borrowing from one another. There's you know, all of that, that I don't want to get into right now, uh, which is good and healthy to know.

[00:16:38] I wanna be clear on this. They are each their own unique world. Uh, one example might be, you know, we're not gonna mix up, uh, the star wars universe with the Marvel universe. Well, actually now there's multiverse. So, um, You know, those are two different [00:17:00] universe, uh, two different movies, two different themes, uh, that need to be enjoyed within their own, you know, uh, frames and, uh, and backgrounds and, and themes.

[00:17:14] I think it's the same way for the, um, You know, sometimes we remember things that Jesus has done, right? Jesus walked on water. Uh, Jesus, uh, you know, fed thousands, uh, Jesus, uh, calls Levi, uh, Jesus asked Peter to, or Simon to, you know, Hey, let's go out to deep sea and, and let's try fishing again. We remember those stories, but sometimes we don't remember what gospel they're in.

[00:17:47] and why they're in that gospel and why they're not in all other gospels. And that's the point? I think we have a biblical memory of [00:18:00] Jesus and his ministry, but we are lacking a biblical memory of. The Jesus, that's doing certain things in each gospel and why the Bible is recorded in that way. I hope that makes sense.

[00:18:21] And so harmonizing, the gospel means that we are diluting the story. We're diluting theology, where the diluting, the themes, the plots, and even the Jesus that is intended to speak to us from each of. Worlds. Um, so harmonizing, the gospels is more about extracting taking from, uh, what's. I, you know, what's important to us, uh, rather than allowing each gospel to immerse us and what it wants us to learn, who it wants us.

[00:18:56] To be. And so harmonizing [00:19:00] is not helpful for our spiritual formation. It may be helpful for other things. I don't want to completely condemn, uh, harmonizing, um, the gospels. Uh, but I don't think they form us spiritually. I, I think they don't make us. They got centered people in. Congregation. But if we allow personally and as a congregation to enter a gospel world for an extended period of time, and we learn the themes, the theology, the context, the, the social, uh, economic.

[00:19:43] Uh, you know, con context, uh, the political context and each of it's, the world's there. Uh, I think we're gonna gain so much. We're going to be spiritually formed [00:20:00] personally and communally. Um, I, I think we're gonna become more of a God centered people because we're not extracting. We are being. Formed, uh, we're not taking from scripture.

[00:20:15] We are being taken by scripture. So I wanna say this part of what I'm saying here is I think we need to enter each gospel world. Avoid harmonizing, allow ourselves. To be in that gospel world for an extended period of time and be formed by the Jesus in that world, by the holy spirit, in that world, by the theological, um, direction of the evangelist.

[00:20:54] That wrote that gospel. Uh, and I think that [00:21:00] would bring about a formation, spiritual formation, a discernment, um, that'll help us be a God centered. People. So the purpose of each gospel is to be read in its own terms. So there is a Luke world that has nothing to do with John's world, uh, and so forth and so forth.

[00:21:27] And so what would it look like for us personally, or congregationally or. To take three months, six months. How about a year in reading? The go the Luke world of Luke and ax or the John world or the mark world or the Matthew world. What, what would that be like? So let me share a couple of those themes here of each, uh, gospel, [00:22:00] uh, to give us an example of the possibilities of high impact influence.

[00:22:06] If we were to. Read the gospels, the way they were intended, uh, for us to be read, you know, Matthew deals a lot with changes. The church is in transition, whatever church audience that was, there's a transition. And so the evangelist Matthew, uh, over and over again is presenting to us the present. Among us, right?

[00:22:37] It has the birth narrative. Mark doesn't have a birth narrative. Uh, John does not have a birth narrative, Matthew and Luke do and why, and each of those birth narratives serve a different purpose within their own context. So Matthew's birth narrative really has nothing to do with Luke's birth narrative ber [00:23:00] Luke's birth narrative is doing something completely.

[00:23:03] Different. So Matthew's birth narrative emphasizes the birth of Emanuel God with us. How does the gospel of Matthew close go everywhere? Right? Uh, to make disciples I'm with you, what always. And so it begins with the God who is with us and it ends with the God who is. With us Matthew, when it's read in its own turns as its own world, all the way through, we will see this themes when we are simply picking and choosing and harmonizing.

[00:23:44] We'll miss out on the purposes. Of Matthew. Another theme in the gospel of Matthew is, you know, it's emphasizing that Jesus is greater than Moses and [00:24:00] Jesus is, uh, you know, the temple. Um, and so why is that important? Well, for the audience of Matthew, the temple was about to be destroyed or was recently.

[00:24:15] Destroyed. And so for Christian Jews, uh, to worship God and no longer have access to the temple, uh, that was. To say the least, uh, a traumatic change in their lives and in their faith and in their culture. Um, and so, you know, for us this far apart, that doesn't really relate perhaps, but if your church is going through leadership changes, if we're going societal changes, which we are, then Matthew is a great world.

[00:24:55] To inform us on adaptive [00:25:00] practices. When a world ends in a new world begins, right? The world of temple is ending the world now of community without a place. Uh, a local place is beginning, but from beginning to end, A Manuel Emmanuel God with us. So that's an example of the richness, the newness, the, the things that are there in Matthew, that as I'm arguing, I mentioned earlier, we miss out because of the four problems that I presented.

[00:25:43] Uh, and so, um, that's Matthew, uh, mark, for example, um, You know, mark quickly in chapter one through four, Jesus has already defeated sane. So San's actually not a problem [00:26:00] for Jesus in the gospel of mark. Um, Jesus has power over demons. Jesus has power over illnesses, infirmities and Jesus. And has authority over creation, calming a storm in mark chapter four.

[00:26:18] Now think about that. Jesus has defeated Satan. Jesus has power and authority over creation. Jesus has power over demonic forces and Jesus has power over death. Illness that's chapter four already. So what's left. What's the big challenge for Jesus then surprise. The biggest challenge for Jesus is actually his disciples.

[00:26:47] That's not the theme of John, but that's the theme in mark. And so the disciples who are slow to believe, slow to trust who say the right things, but don't fully. [00:27:00] Understand, uh, right. Uh, when Jesus calms the storm in chapter four, they say to one another in fear, who is this? And then four chapters later in chapter eight, Jesus is, is walking to Caesar Philippi and all these villages.

[00:27:17] And he stands before his disciples and he says, who do the people say I am? Who do you think I am? So chapter four, it's the disciples who are asking who is this? And Jesus walks with them to help them answer that. And then in chapter eight, he comes back to that question and he says, so who do you think I am now that you've seen and walked with me and we know Peter answers, but even then it's clear, according to the themes of mark that.

[00:27:52] Peter doesn't fully understand. And so then there's miracles about a blind man [00:28:00] seen, and this blind man, uh, needs to be touched by Jesus a second time in order to see what is mark doing? It's letting us know Peter thinks he sees, but he doesn't fully see, he's gonna need a second touch. He's gonna need.

[00:28:18] More time. Right? So if one of the themes that mark is our slowness to participate faithfully in the mission and life of God. And we find a God who is patient with us, who is willing to walk with us, even though we're slow, even though we're creating challenges for his ministry. Uh, and then you. The human element of the teachers of the law and their envious desire to murder and assassinate Jesus.

[00:28:53] We see how humanity hinders the mission of God. [00:29:00] But we also see how God is patient with humanity, calling us to be humanity in, in God's terms. Uh, and so one of the themes in mark is, is asking what does it mean to be human in the world of God? Again, if we are trying to harmonize, if we read stories and we think we already know the answer, uh, if we, um, Our anxious and are snot slowing down to pick up a commentary or a few and read for an extended period of time, a gospel we're missing out.

[00:29:39] And the gospel's no longer. Having an impact in our lives. So our formation will be impacted. We will become a self centered people. We will become a church centric people, or we will become a church hero centric people rather than a [00:30:00] God centered. People Luke, Luke and acts Luke is, is volume. One acts is volume two.

[00:30:09] Who's the protagonist in Luke. It's not Jesus. The protagonist in Luke is the holy spirit. Jesus does nothing without being initiated by. The holy spirit and in acts, the church does nothing without being initiated and led and empowered by the holy spirit. And so if we read Luke and we miss the themes and directions and information, information, and presence, uh, and activity of the holy spirit, then we.

[00:30:45] We're gonna be missing out on a major emphasis in Luke. Luke is also very, uh, you know, favors, uh, the outsiders, the marginalized as [00:31:00] people who model faith. And so it's the outsiders who are the models of faith for the insiders. You think that's relevant to us now? uh, and so if we are in a church context that wants to condemn things and people outside of the church, but doesn't slow down to discern, what might God be up to among those who are hurting?

[00:31:29] Uh, if we are a church or a people, uh, who cannot listen to the pains of others, Ooh, then we are missing out on God centered formation, according to the gospel of Luke and the book of acts. And so in Luke, uh, women become the protagonist, the birth narrative in Luke highlights the faithfulness of Elizabeth.

[00:31:57] Zacharia is muted because of [00:32:00] his disbelief. Uh, Mary is highlighted as faithful participant in God's miraculous story. Um, and so, uh, at the end of Luke, it is women who are running to the tomb. Uh, it is women who are first proclaiming, uh, the resurrection. And so what is Luke doing? Modeling the faithful model and participation.

[00:32:32] Of women. Well, Luke has a specific audience that is addressing, and it's going to be relevant to specific churches in every generation. Uh, so Luke and acts is very much, uh, needed for us to enter that world and discern in our context right now. And, uh, another quick summary here, John, the gospel of John, [00:33:00] uh, the most different gospel than all the others.

[00:33:04] But we find some of the themes in John is that we, we see how important the material world is. I think John is one of the most misunderstood, uh, scriptures, uh, where, you know, we have overemphasized that all that matters is the well, that's a terrible thing to say, uh, to people who are. Desperate need. Uh, and so Luke definitely touches on that as well.

[00:33:34] Um, you know, Luke, sorry, I'm going back to Luke does not separate, uh, the person from spirituality, physical needs, social needs, it it's all together. Salvation includes all of those things. Uh, and so John does, uh, more work on that by letting us. Early that [00:34:00] God has come. The word has become flesh. What does that mean?

[00:34:04] God has moved into the neighborhood. God is at work in the broken world. Where do we find God in the broken world? What is God doing? John three 16 tells is that God does not want to condemn the world, but wants to save the world. So where do we find God in the broken world? What is God doing, wanting, and saving this broken world.

[00:34:33] And so. You know, we have over-emphasized or used or misused rather the word world at least in our fellowship, uh, where it always means the absence of God. Well, actually for John, uh, it means that's where. Where God is, uh, that's where God is working. God is inviting us to join him [00:35:00] in this broken world in God's mission.

[00:35:02] But Wade, Martin, doesn't it say that, you know, he, he, he calls us out of the world. Yes. And then what does he do? He sends him right back into the world. And so Jesus calls us out of one world. And then, uh, forms us spiritually and then sends us back to that world with the different ambition, with the different desire, with the different formation, which leads us to another theme in the gospel of John, which is the, the formation of our desires.

[00:35:39] Ooh, this is a big one here. I think for a very long time, we read scripture. We have been reading scripture to change our habits, and we've been reading scripture for knowledge and insight, and then we show it off with people. Um, But actually I think what [00:36:00] John is doing is John is not trying to give us knowledge.

[00:36:03] I think John is trying to form our desires. Let me ask you a question. What's more powerful. Your will or your desires. What does God wanna transform first your will or your desires? Well, in the gospel of John. I think theologically speaking, God is after the formation or reformation of our desires. How do we know that?

[00:36:35] Well, look at the beginning of the story and the end of the story. Again, this is only possible if we read the whole thing and we enter that world for an extended period of time in order for it to have high impact, not a low impact. So in the beginning there's questions, um, that are asked. Jesus says, what do you want?

[00:36:57] Um, as the disciples of [00:37:00] John were following him from a distance without saying anything, Jesus turns it around and says, what do you want? That's like saying, what do you desire? That's like saying, what do you love? Cause what you love determines your entire life. What does Jesus say at the end? What are the questions at the end?

[00:37:20] One of the questions at the end is Peter. Do you love me? Peter? Do you love me, Peter? Do you love me? What was the question at the beginning? What do you want? Or what do you desire or what do you love? What are the questions in the end? Do you love me? And so. Much of the work of the gospel of John is to shape our desires, to love God and not love the world, but to go back as lovers of God in a broken world.

[00:37:53] And so we are in a broken world with the God who loves the world. And [00:38:00] so we are lovers of God and a broken world in which God. Is, uh, loving and healing, then we're going to be faithful participants. Of God. So you see the danger of reading the gospels as a prelude to something important. I'm saying today at this podcast that the gospels are actually the good stuff.

[00:38:31] They're the most important thing we have. If we want to rank it though, that's always dangerous. Um, and I think we need to read it as the most relevant. Piece of scripture in our Bibles to our current circumstances, what this does, it leads us to believe in the living present and active God. If [00:39:00] we believe the Bo the gospels are low impact, predictable and boring, or they're the prelude to something important.

[00:39:09] And we are dominated by anxiety to be entertained. So we can't slow down and we are exhausted by trying to harmonize something that wasn't designed to be harmonized. We're gonna miss out. And being the people God called us to be, and God is not going to be in our minds, a present living and act of God.

[00:39:32] He's gonna be a far away distant historical God who came and left and now we're waiting for him to come back. So we're here all alone left to do God's work. That is. Heavy burden and an image. I think that is in all of us, perhaps that's a different, um, podcast there to unpack our image of God. But if we read the [00:40:00] gospels for the world that they're in, without trying to harmonize, we give ourselves an extended period a time.

[00:40:08] I think we are going to discover. New things we're gonna be formed to be God centered. And we're going to discern in our lives, in our communities, in our church, the living present and active God. Whew. All right. So by now in our culture, we're expecting practicals and here's what you need to do. I, I don't wanna do that.

[00:40:35] Um, I just wanna present this conversation. Do you agree? Do you not agree? What surprises you? What are the new things you discovered? What, what has the holy spirit? I would've been insane to you. That, that maybe something that was said today is connected to the whispers and directions of the holy spirit in your life and in your church.

[00:40:56] I'd rather us be thinking and discerning and [00:41:00] reflecting than to wait for. You know, here's what you need to do now, if I want to be fair and honest to what I'm presenting, I'm gonna leave it for us to discern. To talk about all right. If you made it this far grateful for you, we, um, are almost done. I just wanna say a couple of things here to close out that, you know, as we interact with each gospel in its own terms, without harmonizing, as I've been saying, we're gonna find that Jesus in all four gospels in different ways is reenacting the story.

[00:41:40] Israel, which means that. The audience of each gospel is looking back, is being called to look back into what for us would be the old Testament. And for them, it was just simply the scriptures to reinterpret what took place in the past, in their new [00:42:00] context. Think about how healthy that's going to be for us.

[00:42:03] If we are able to see the faithfulness of God. To Israel, which means that God is gonna be faithful to us. Um, I think another thing that we're gonna see is, uh, we're gonna see the theological themes, uh, that, you know, we're gonna be co forced, encouraged, compelled to interpret, to discern. And in all of them, we're gonna find the activities of the living.

[00:42:31] God. So we can then ask these questions. Well, what is God up to. Now, how do we join God and what God is doing? Who are we called to be in these circumstances? Uh, what I mean is that each gospel when entered, respected and read in its own terms of engagement forms in us, discernment and wisdom about the living God, [00:43:00] when we engage.

[00:43:02] The gospels again on their own terms with an extended period of time, from beginning to end, without trying to anticipate answers, what happens while God becomes the protagonist? Not us. That's important. If we want to be a God centered people, this is God's mission nod. Ours. This is God's activities and invitations to join him, not ours.

[00:43:35] Um, if we're counting, this would be number four and we have seven, so we're almost there, you know, community precedes productivity, uh, when we enter the world of the gospels on their terms, uh, and we are fully immersed, uh, in these worlds, um, What ends up happening is that, uh, who we [00:44:00] need to be becomes the sta the starting point, rather than what we need to do.

[00:44:08] And the order there is important be, and do not do do so. Don't be do, do number five. Uh, we will learn to be led to be invited and to be surprised, meaning we are not going to be bored. Uh, we are not going to be anticipating, uh, themes and points and answers that we've heard all our lives. We are actually gonna discover.

[00:44:37] New things, uh, cuz we're entering that world to be taken. We're not entering that world to extract or to take, um, number six, we gotta read each gospels for what it is. Uh, it is a story. Um, it is a narrative and it needs to be [00:45:00] embraced. Uh, it is comprehensible, but it's also. Mystery at the same time, we're not gonna figure it all out.

[00:45:09] Um, and so the challenge is that we have been historically reading, uh, scripture, uh, with the priority to rationalize everything, to provide. Answer for everything. And that leaves no room for mystery making us the protagonists and the key interpreters rather than the participants. Who are invited to discern and be faithful.

[00:45:43] Hopefully you can see that number seven and we are done overall. I think engaging the gospels in their terms to an extended period of time without rushing forms us to be. God centered. [00:46:00] And we discern that God is in mission in the world. We discern God's activities. Therefore we can rejoice that our God is a living present and active.

[00:46:17] God, thank you for taking the time to listen. Perhaps you had to pause, uh, perhaps, um, you know, you're still wrestling with some of these things or maybe everything here was somewhat new and confusing to you. Hey, give it another, listen, uh, stop brushing. Slow down. All right, we're gonna close this out right here.

[00:46:41] Thank you for listening.

[00:46:43] Host: Thank you Martin. And thank you for listening to Deeper Dive by The OC Church of Christ. If you want to get connected to us or want to donate to the program, go to our website occhurchofchrist.com or through social media @TheOCchurch. Join us next time [00:47:00] for our next deeper dive.