lost books of the Bible

There's lots of interest these days in books from the early Christian era that did not make it into the Bible. Particularly around the Gnostic gospels. We have begun at Fairlawn-West to do a lot of "remedial" or even intro groups around scripture, canonization (the process of how books became part of the Bible), and the history, geography and literature styles of the time.

What I am finding is that we are starting to find the "lost book"...the Bible itself. I find that a lot of folks who are boomers and older have a deep suspicion of scripture and discount it by saying "well, everybody interprets it their own way so how can you really know what is says?" Then, we lose the unfolding story of scripture and reduce it down to individual passages that convey moralisms for the "good of society." This is a sad irony in Protestantism where the authority of scripture has been foundational. Not scripture to be used in controlling, oppresive, domineering ways, but scripture as the gift of God's life in our life.

I find, generally, younger generations more intrigued with "story" than we older folks. We older ones were raised n the modern era where science and history imbeded in us that "fact" is the highest benchmark for determining what is true. That set up then our search to keep the church going but to discount scripture as the profound means of God's communication with us. "it makes no sense" so we avoid it. We don't talk about it because we are afraid to show our "ignorance" of it.

What is happening around Fairlawn-West is that people are gaining confidence in scripture even before they are learning about it. I believe we "know" faith more firmly in our hearts more than in our minds. Folks are realizing that they "know" scripture even if they have avoided it for years. Now through a host of different small group venues they are capturing the overall understanding of the Bible as well as studying the individual books. We are seeing that what at first glance seems old/ancient, is really a world that faces many of the same dilemmas we do. AND that God never abandoned those folks, even in the worst case scenarios. We are learning that our lives are "biblical." AND that is calling us out more into the world around us in more courageous ways to serve those who are low and weak, it is calling us to connect with people who are searching to know God, it is calling us out to stand for justice.