Rundown:
FTI Blog Post 101 is a Book Review. This post includes—Reading, a Rating, a Review, personal Reflections from George, and questions for your Reaction.
Reading:
Scot McKnight. The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible. Second Edition. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2018. See the book on Amazon: The Blue Parakeet
Rating: Nine out of Ten
Rating Scale: One to Three means do not waste your time. It is just mediocre information. Four to Seven says the book is worth a quick read to harvest some learnings. It enhances your knowledge. Eight to Ten suggests the book is worth underlining, highlighting, and quoting. It increases your wisdom.
Review:
A fast way to start a nasty debate among Christians is to declare you know the one right way to read, understand, and interpret the Bible. Then declare all other perspectives wrong.
An alternative approach is to present a convincing case for a great way to read the Bible. Then invite people to dialogue with you.
Scot McKnight takes the alternative approach. This does not mean he avoids a nasty debate. Some people reject the beauty, warmth, and theologically sound approach presented.
Read the Bible as God’s Story
McKnight suggests we read the Bible as God’s Story of redemption from the creation of the heavens and earth until the culmination of earthly history through the establishment of the new heaven and the new earth.
The full Story of the drama of redemption is an ongoing story. Through the power of the Holy Spirit the Story brings us into a deep and eternal relationship with God. Without this relationship the Story loses its meaning and significance.
This is instead of experiencing the Bible only as a boxed set of laws to obey. Or primarily as proof-texting verses memorized out of context. Or by focusing on an interpretation that reframes the Bible in our own image when reading the biblical text.
Or as a collection of clear and certain prophetic puzzles put together to form a complete story. Or as action prompts such as those popularized by motivating questions such as What would Jesus do?
God’s Story, as McKnight sees it, must also have context. It works through God’s covenant community—the Church.
McKnight’s Spiritual Encounter
From his personal encounter with the Triune God of the Bible, McKnight is an example of the reality of God’s Story of redemption for each person. The biblical text alone does not bring redemption. It requires an encounter with the Triune God.
While attending a Christian camp during high school, his cabin of boys was challenged to spend some time one morning in individual prayer. Each was to pray, “Lord, fill me with your Holy Spirit.”
Doing so was a powerful spiritual experience for him. He went on to breakfast a new person. Now in his 70s he continues to experience and teach God’s Story as a person whose life was transformed that day.
That Was Then, and This is Now
Beyond the idea of God’s Story, McKnight teaches the importance of understanding the Bible in the current day. In the context of life and ministry as individuals and covenant communities.
Seven words come across as non-negotiable in how the Bible is to be applied in the current day. “That was then, and this is now.”
For some readers this might be McKnight’s most controversial words. Yet they are not a discounting of scripture, the work of the Holy Spirit, or God’s Story. They are an active and powerful life application of the Bible.
Discernment
The discernment concept in the book hooks me because of my lifestyle of continually discerning the movement of God’s Story in my life.
We must discern what the Bible says to us about our proactive Kingdom engagement. Discernment is personal, local, and contextual.
McKnight suggests spiritual discernment of God’s Story for a local church or local denominational expression is about how we can best live out the gospel in our day and in our unique context.
“If the Bible does anything for us as we read it as Story, it gives us the confidence to face the future with the good news about Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit. God’s Spirit, the Story tells us, is with us to guide us and to give us discernment.” (267)
The Book Title
Not addressed in this review is the meaning of the title—The Blue Parakeet. I choose to leave that for you to discover as you engage the book for yourself. It is a personal story for McKnight that you need to allow him to tell you.
“What happens to you when you encounter blue parakeet passages in the Bible will reveal all you need to know about how you read the Bible.” (25)
Reflections from George:
As I consider McKnight’s book, and celebrate God’s Story, I have two reflections on a lifetime of reading the Bible. One is about confidence in the Holy Spirit, and the other is about an assurance regarding God’s Story.
But first some background.
Growing Up and Living with the Bible
Reading the Bible—or having it read to me—is a huge part of my life. I learned to memorize Bible verses from a very young age. I attended church at least three times per week where learning from the Bible was part of every experience.
This makes sense given I was born into the home of a church pastor and spouse. They made sure I had access to Bibles in various forms. I was given copies of new versions of the Bible throughout my growing up years.
My parents were interested in new translations of the Bible published from time-to-time and made sure I had copies of these.
My spiritual calling led me into Christian ministry. I studied the Bible, theology, and church ministry during four years of college and nine years of seminary.
My parents provided me with multiple sets of Bible commentaries as I engaged in ministry preparation and began church staff ministry.
Church music was also a big part of my life development. I learned much theology from church music. To reconfirm what I was learning through sacred music and hymns, I would check out the biblical references to be sure the theology was sound.
My years in local church ministry as a staff minister or pastor were short-term from age 18 through 26. The majority of my ministry focused on denominational staff ministry and consulting with churches and denominations.
In this ministry, I learned a lot about how churches and denominations use and abuse scripture. I also sought to maintain a deep relationship with my church where my family and I were members.
I taught small group Bible studies—primarily by co-teaching an adult Sunday School class. I stayed in touch with how laypersons connected with the Bible.
I love the Bible. I love God’s Story speaking to me through the written word so that I might more deeply encounter the Living Word of God—Jesus the Christ.
I am still learning. I am still inspired by God’s Holy Spirit.
Holy Spirit
Beyond the Bible, my parents also taught me to ponder and pray.
I pondered what God’s Holy Spirit might be saying to me through reading the Bible that would apply to my life and ministry. Reading the Bible itself was not enough. The Bible is foundational. Life in the Holy Spirit involves soaring with faith through actions.
I continually asked the Holy Spirit through prayer to guide my small and big steps. Always praying that whatever steps I take would be in the center of God’s will for my life.
That gave me great confidence in the work of the Holy Spirit in my life. It continues to give me confidence in my ministry direction during retirement from full-time ministry.
God’s Story
My biblical, family, and church background gave me strong assurance in God’s Story. A faith that could not be shaken. A willingness to question the Bible, theologians, Christian practitioners, and skeptics.
When I journeyed through my thirteen years of college and seminary, I encountered many people who came to those experiences with a simplistic understanding of the Bible and a shallow faith.
They were shocked to encounter in-depth, academic and research approaches to the Bible and various elements of the Christian faith. For some it was a deepening experience. For others a faith shattering experience. For many a re-examination of their faith commitments.
I went through all these experiences also. But in the midst of them I figured out the difference between the written word of God—the Bible, and the Living Word of God—Jesus the Christ. Plus, the interaction of the two.
The outcome was that my faith in the written word and the Living Word were both deepened.
Scott McKnight’s book—The Blue Parakeet—reaffirms God’s Story of redemption in both the written and living expressions. I am grateful for it.
Reactions:
You are invited to share some reactions (comments) to this book review and my reflection. Here are four questions to guide your reaction:
1. How do you read, understand, and interpret the Bible?
2. What are your thoughts about reading the Bible as God’s story of redemption?
3. How do you describe the difference between the written word of God and the Living Word of God?
4. How does God’s Holy Spirit inform your understanding, interpretation, and application of the Bible to God’s journey?