What we miss when we read the Bible alone

Hands encircling a paper heart with graphic of heartbeat

I’m a sucker for a good story. 

I know you are, too. We can’t help it. God hardwired it into our brains. Functional MRIs show how our brains respond to stories (versus information)—more areas of the brain light up and with greater intensity. And even newer research has shown something fascinating: our heartbeats seem to synchronize when we hear a story at the same time, in a shared experience. 

How. Cool. Is. That?!

While this is obviously relevant for my work with speakers in crafting their content, I think there’s a treasure here for followers of God, as well. 

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Three vital ways using our voices shapes our faith

As an introvert, whose nervous system goes into hyperarousal with too much stimuli from sound and light, I often opt for quiet, introspective, individual faith-building practices like reading or prayer. (This is also why welcoming my kids home for visits means I have to gird myself for the steady stream of music! But having them home is worth every loud minute.) I’ve been thinking a lot about voices of late as part of my work as a public speaking coach/consultant. As I’ve reflected, I’ve come to better appreciate how significant our voices are to growing in faith. 

Three ways voices play an important role faith-development:

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How to build (and maintain) friendship in an era of division

Bird with head cocked

I could not relate to what she was saying. If I may be candid, I was even a bit turned off by what my friend was sharing with me. I felt the urge to disconnect rise up inside me: Well, I guess I know not to broach *this* topic again in the future. 

And then there are the times when I’ve shared my thoughts and experiences with a friend only to have her expression reveal how surprised she was to uncover a difference where we’d previously seemed to share a sense of sameness. I’d wonder whether our friendship had a future; if our friendship had been built on common ground, would this quake bring its demise?

There have been similar instances in many of my friendships over the years. I used to think it meant I hadn’t found the “right” people to have in my life… that if I kept searching, I’d be able to surround myself with people whose perspectives always aligned with my own. On every topic. 

I know, I know… it seems a bit naïve to me, too, when I see it written out in black and white. 

And yet, I think—even if only subconsciously—it’s how most of us are interacting with the world. We allow our differences to drive us apart. And the result is a loneliness epidemic. There’s a good bit of research detailing this reality, some of which I’ve written about and referenced before. If the statistics tell even part of the story, about half of us are without even a single meaningful friendship. And while we can’t control all the reasons—and certainly will not lay blame at the feet of those who are ailing from a lack of friendship—there are things we can do differently for ourselves and for others. 

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When you don’t know you’re sick (or somehow forgot)

Wooden table with coffee (decorative)

Is there anything scarier than being sick and not knowing it?

Okay, there probably is. But I find the idea of an undetected illness terrifying. (Just me?)

If you’ve been following Jesus for any length of time, you’re undoubtedly familiar with our sinful nature being likened to an incurable disease that we’re all born with as descendants of Adam. When we trust in Jesus as our Savior we are “cured” through a righteousness transplant of sorts.

Related: New DNA in Jesus (an article I wrote for Our Daily Bread based on an amazing true story)

In Luke 5, Jesus rebuts the Pharisee’s criticism of His willingness to spend time with sinners saying “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:31, 32 ESV)

At first reading, it appears Jesus is describing the gaggle of social outcasts sitting at Levi’s table as being “the sick.” Indeed, they were all spiritually sick and in need of a Savior. And, as the religious elite, the Pharisees knew it too—that’s why they questioned Jesus for associating with them.

While that description may be accurate, it’s not the entirety of what Jesus was communicating. In a poignant way, He was holding a mirror up to the Pharisees, reminding them of the truth contained in (what we call) the Old Testament, asking them to recognize their own spiritual sickness.

This passage should make us uncomfortable, friends. Not because we’ve spent time at Levi’s table as a sinner. We all have! Knowing that about ourselves is what enables us to receive Jesus’ gift as the unfathomable grace that it is. 

It should make us uncomfortable because it asks us to see how we’re like the Pharisees. 

The Pharisees knew they carried the gene that predisposes us to sin and separation from God—remember, they were the religious experts.

And yet they ended up with hearts far from God, prideful over their position in the Jewish social structures and distancing themselves from those they deemed unseemly. Somehow, it seems they’d forgotten they, too, were ill.

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On the other hand…

“You might be immobilized for five or six weeks,” my doctor said.

Ugh. 

The possibility of not being able to use of my dominant hand for that length of time struck a chord of fear in this pessimist’s heart. 

But my shoulder needed repair so I scheduled it—despite the potential downtime. (I had a similar surgery on my left shoulder about 10 years ago, the hilarious precursor to which I shared here.)

The good news: The surgery is now behind me and I had a better outcome than anticipated—I’m already in rehab.  

The bad news: I still don’t have full use of my right/dominant arm. 

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When past hurt makes friendship feel scary

Three women sitting on a bench on a dock.

He addressed him as “friend.”

“Friend, do what you came to do.” (Matthew 26:50 ESV) 

Jesus knew what his friend Judas—one of the close-knit group of disciples—was about to do: betray Him into the hands of His would-be killers. Most of us wouldn’t consider that kind of betrayal a mark of a friend.

Yet Jesus still calls Judas “friend.”

Puzzled by this, I wondered at first if it was just the translation I was reading. Nope, the word “friend” is in every translation I checked. 

  • Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.” (NIV)
  • Jesus said to him, “Friend, why are you here?” (RSV)
  • But Jesus said to him, “Friend, why have you come?” (NKJV)

That’s because it’s in the original Greek version. In Greek, the word is ἑταῖρος. 

According to Strong’s it means “a comrade:—fellow, friend.” So there’s really no trying to redefine the word the way Jesus used it. 

Why does this matter to us?

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Breaking bread instead of breaking fellowship

In the coming days (and weeks), many of us will gather with friends or family to share a holiday meal. We’ll put thought into who will encircle the table, extending invitations and setting a time to gather. We’ll put thought into the meal—possibly preparing favorite family recipes. And we might even put thought into what the table itself will look like… A centerpiece? Special plates or utensils? Candles?

But will we put thought into the conversation and the connection? 

Or will we leave that to chance? 

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Lessons from turning 50… in a pandemic

I had a birthday last week. A BIG birthday. To celebrate (COVID-style), and nod to my 50 years treading the earth, I decided to walk 50,000 steps. (When I hatched this hair-brained scheme, I had no idea it would amount to about 22 miles. Yes, I was tired and sore when I was done.) 

I invited some of my friends—from all chapters of my life and all parts of the globe—to “walk with me” by phone for part of my nearly eight-hour effort. The calls were sweet and all-too-brief but soul-filling (and blessedly distracting). This was exactly what I needed to mark the moment in a way that wouldn’t fade into the blur of sameness that 2020 has become. 

Afterwards, reflecting on my calls with the wonderful women who joined me, I waxed philosophical. Below are 17 tid-bit insights extracted from a glorious day rich with fellowship-by-phone, recorded here for my posterity and—I believe—the benefit of us all:

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Trying again: Faithful perseverance in seasons of difficulty

We’re sitting amidst another COVID spike, wondering, perhaps, whether we’ll ever clear this thing. I’m not an epidemiologist (and I don’t even play one on TV) but I do see something in the Bible that might be helpful right now—whether you’re frustrated with COVID or dealing with an entirely different challenge.

I wrote earlier this year on some applications from Noah and the account of the flood. I recently revisited the same passage and saw something new:

Noah released a bird four separate times as the waters began to recede.

Four.

Only on the fourth time did the dove not return, serving as evidence that soon the land would again be dry and inhabitable. 

Whether you are

  • grappling with the fits and starts of a new business venture, 
  • launching your children into the world, 
  • taking on a new role in the workplace, 
  • making friends in a new hometown,
  • or merely antsy for a post-pandemic reality…
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Overcoming our Divisions

These are difficult days on our planet and in our country. We’re divided over so very much. Frankly, the fractures in our community are making my heart ache. I mean it: this stuff genuinely keeps me awake at night.

Author (and fellow Our Daily Bread writer) Elisa Morgan generously offered me the opportunity to write to her readers about that ache and how I’m learning to lean in to differences between me and those I love. I trust those words will help you, my readers, too.


A Life of Addition

I wasn’t sure what her perspective was. Should I emphasize we were required to wear masks? Would that make her feel safe? Or was it more likely to cause her to decline the invitation if she didn’t agree? It was the first time we’d tried to spend time together in person since March when COVID sent us home.

I guessed incorrectly, tried to “sell” our gathering with the wrong assumption. The tension between our vantage points pulled heavily on my heart; the excitement at being together for a fun outing suddenly blunted by the realization that we held different opinions…

Read the rest of the post over on Elisa’s blog.

(And if you missed Elisa’s guest post here on my blog, be sure to check that out here.)