Cool Tools
November 29, 2012
As I recently explained in my Hermeneutics class, there are “tools” and then “Cool Tools”. If you get your hands on the Cool Tools, reading God’s Word becomes infinitely more exciting. People think the Bible is boring only because Google and Facebook turned reading into a mind-numbing, button-pushing, exercise in futility—the Bible has no “likes” button, so what good is it? Cool Tools are a breath of fresh air for the Google-handicappedBear with me as I make a case for a “Cool Tool Christmas,” which turns Christmas gifts into a significant foundation for a lifetime. I still leverage Cool Tools purchased a quarter century ago, even though tools are cooler now on PCs, tablets and smart phones.Rediscovering Confidence
There is a mysterious, marvelous aspect to the Bible people don’t usually get. The problem is the time gap separating us from the experience of earlier Christians, and the gap is filled with worn-out, religious fluff deposited by centuries of politics and culture wars (Europe is the birthplace of “Culture Wars”, FYI, not the USA).Clearly the Bible itself was profound and revelatory for countless generations in the pre-Facebook era. With the right tools, the Bible opens up worlds of wonder like it did for the original audiences, when Jesus People sprang from nowhere in the 1st Century. Their excitement filled the Roman Empire with a million-plus voices in one generation, despite the cruelest suppression. As a 1st C witness described it:“Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things. You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy… Hebrews 10:34Wow. The persecution was bad, but the honor of possessing “the Oracles of God” brought confidence and purpose unlike anything the Romans delivered. Yet that honor can be lost, as he describes:
So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Hebrews 10:35Christianity grows anemic where people “throw away this confident trust” and lose “the great reward.” The exclusive source for “confident trust” is a personal encounter with God’s Word, it says:
So faith [confident trust] comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ. Romans 10:17The modern Industrial Church relies far too much on “The Big Show” and singalongs, but almighty Rome already tried using lavish and sophisticated entertainment to hold the loyalty of their citizenry. It seems to work, but only for a short while.
Overwhelming Glory
People’s hearts are gripped by the “overwhelming glory of the new way” revealed in God’s Word (2 Corinthians 3:10). This is not poetic imagery. Something motivated real people to pay with lost property and lives, even “joyfully”, it says in Hebrews. What else could bring such motivation, if not “overwhelming glory” of some kind? Such is the latent glory in God’s Word which ignites the birth of a universe:For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6When God’s “light” shines “in our hearts” it is mind-blowing. “Overwhelming glory” waits to be unlocked by a willing heart, but only a willing heart. Reading His Word is tedious and complicated only because, “it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen.” (Hebrews 5:11) God’s Word confuses the unwilling heart, so “They look, but they don’t really see. They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand.” (Matthew 13:13)The willing heart makes a deliberate choice to pick up a few tools and excavate the Oracles of God from centuries of dirt—dead traditions and edicts suppressing the “overwhelming glory” of God’s free gift. The Cool Tools strip away church history and brings us closer to the original text that thrilled the original audience.