I am not willing to concede the Bible to those who wield it like a weapon

Hi friends,

Like many of you, I’m still processing a lot of the news and the aftermath from the past week. I’m not quite sure what, if anything, I have to write or say would be helpful right now. In fact, I’m sure it isn’t. Rather than rushing in where angels fear to tread, I’m taking time to pray and process. I’ve often regretted quick words, I’ve never regretted catching my breath and listening well for a while.

Today’s Field Notes interview with pastor and author about his new book Better Ways to Read the Bible: Transforming a Weapon of Harm into a Tool of Healing was planned for today many weeks ago yet it feels particularly timely right now, since so much of the divide we are experiencing seems to have its roots in how we read, understand, and live out the Bible. I’ve felt such cognitive dissonance - and deep grief - all over again this week because of the reality that the very thing that compels me to pursue more healing liberation, more empathy, more costly love, and more sacrificial compassion is somehow the same one that is seemingly leading others in a completely opposite direction. This has all reminded me of something my friend Rachel Held Evans wrote about the Bible years ago,

“If you are looking for verses with which to support slavery, you will find them. If you are looking for verses with which to abolish slavery, you will find them. If you are looking for verses with which to oppress women, you will find them. If you are looking for for verses with which to liberate or honour women, you will find them. If you are looking for reasons to wage war, you will find them. If you are looking for reasons to promote peace, you will find them. If you are looking for an out-dated, irrelevant ancient text, you will find it. If you are looking for truth, believe me, you will find it. This is why there are times when the most instructive question to bring to the text is not "what does it say?", but "what am I looking for?" I suspect Jesus knew this when he said, "ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened." If you want to do violence in this world, you will always

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