Thursday, September 27, 2007
Living by the Book
What Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me, 30 Days) is to experiment-based documentaries, A.J. Jacobs is becoming to experiment-based books. In 2004, the author and senior editor for Esquire penned The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World. It humorously chronicled Jacobs' reading of all 32 volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
His latest book, The Year of Living Biblically, is about—you guessed it—spending a year trying to follow every command in the Bible to a tee. I'll admit, I haven't read any of Jacobs' writing. But after reading this fascinating Newsweek interview with him, I just might go get a copy of his latest when it comes out. A couple of telling quotes from this experimental seeker:
His latest book, The Year of Living Biblically, is about—you guessed it—spending a year trying to follow every command in the Bible to a tee. I'll admit, I haven't read any of Jacobs' writing. But after reading this fascinating Newsweek interview with him, I just might go get a copy of his latest when it comes out. A couple of telling quotes from this experimental seeker:
- "One thing I learned is that the outside affects the inside; your behavior shapes your thoughts."
- "The Bible affected every single part of my life. It affected the way I walked, the way I dressed, the way I hugged my wife, the way I ate. The year was the most extreme makeover of my life."
- "I started the year as an agnostic, and now I am a reverent agnostic. Whether or not there is a God, I believe in sacredness. Rituals can be sacred; the Sabbath can be sacred however you choose to observe it."
It's sad to think a person can spend an entire year strictly adhering to "the Good Book" yet still walk away and hardly recognize its central figure. Obviously things haven't changed much since Jesus' time, when He blasted those who boasted in their religious performance (not that I'm saying Jacobs is boasting). Following the law still brings the same results now as it did then. And Jesus—thank You, God!—still offers the same salvation today as yesterday. Maybe Jacobs' book can somehow point people from the emptiness of religious duty to the only Person who's fulfilled every law.
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And sadly many believe that being a disciple of Jesus means that we must obey 100% of the Law to remain followers of Christ. How sad that many miss the reality that Christ died to set us free from trying to reform ourselves through religious law and He came to liberate us from our sins to regenerate us (Galatians 3:13-14; 5:1-4; Titus 3:5-7).
And sadly most disciples of Jesus miss the great opportunity we have to GET to obey God's teaching and instruction in His perfect, unchanging Word. Most all even miss the 4th of the 10 commandments. May Jesus and his Holy Spirit open the hearts of his children to read and obey his Word. (Matt 5:17-22)
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