Things that happen in everyday life sometimes get my goat. They can keep it. The goat, that is. In return, I will continue to produce mini-posts like this one, called "Buggers." Because who really wants to pet a peeve these days? And who doesn't like to say "buggers," with just a trace of a British accent? Yeah, that's right.
[[Parental Advisory: Explicit Theological Sarcasm Ahead]]
Church readerboards are great, because they never mislead, confuse, or err in any way whatsoever. They're exactly like the pope!
Driving along recently, I chanced to gobble up this tasty tidbit, delivered to commuters by one Kirkland congregation: "The Lord delights in those who fear him."
So that's a Bible verse, I'm guessing. Sounds familiar. I'll look it up. Hey, it's Psalm 147, verse 11. (I'm not exaggerating when I say 20 seconds passed between the word "up" and this one right "here." I do so love the Googley Webbamajingy.) Incidentally, the second part of that verse -- the useful stuff -- was left off, the part where it adds, "who put their hope in his unfailing love." But now I'm way ahead of myself. Bad habit.
Yeah, so it's practically impossible to get the wrong idea from the first part of that verse. You'd have to do the unthinkable: read it literally, using commonly accepted definitions of widely understood terms. And who wants to do that?
"delights in those who": You too, can gain God's favor with your behavior! Which is good, because most of us, for as long as civilization has existed, have decided to live by a variant of this rule: "Don't piss the deity off."
"fear": Usually, the term "fear" is used to mean "fear." Yeah, but in this case, it doesn't have anything to do with being frightened of God, as biblical scholars have explained ad nauseam. (Literally, I'm sure.) It's a combination of reverence, awe and respect.
I know this. Seminary students know this. The clergy know this. (Mostly.) People who've spent a decade or two in Sunday School know this. Nine-year-old preacher's kids know this. Pretty soon, once we throw a couple more population groups in there, we'll reach four percent of the people driving by who know this. The other 96 percent are going to tend to substitute, in their minds, for the word "fear," the synonym "fear." By which they will mean something close to "being frightened of that scary thing which makes me feel afraid." That sensation is known as, wait for it, "fear." People ascribe the word "fear" to describe it. So fear God, people! Even if that's not what the author meant!
"him": I realize I'm fighting another uphill battle here, but God isn't actually a him, last I checked, and any verse that calls God a him is only marginally useful, as it is built on a myopic image of God. And if there were verses calling God a her (besides the one that turns God into a giant chicken), those would be equally insufficient. "It" isn't that great of a pronoun for God either. I like to use the gender neutral term "God" when trying to put God in a neat little box. Try it sometime!
Now I understand that the Psalmist, who was not attempting to produce a piece of scripture at the time, but was doing a bit of sacred songwriting instead, and not even directly aimed at the east side of Lake Washington at that, that this writer probably meant that to respect God is pleasing to God and leads to a better life. It's a great point.
A little obvious, maybe, but certainly a point worth making. Or worth ruining on a readerboard, that's OK too.
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