This is another post in my series of reflections on my two days with Eugene Peterson at Q Practices.

Our focus was on Cultivating the Inner Life in an Age of Distraction.

It was such a rich time… and I continue to process and pray my way through my notes.

Our second session on Day 2 was focused on Scripture.

As a pastor, Peterson has long believed that a central tenet of our work is helping the people we serve to know the Biblical text. To understand it and to live it.

We work to re-embody the text for others.

This was the genesis for The Message translation — or paraphrase — of the Bible. Peterson never intended for his paraphrasing to go beyond the walls of his church community. He was simply trying to help his congregation to better understand the message(s) that God was communicating through the Scriptures.

God reveals himself through the text… he doesn’t tell himself.

As pastors, we’re not conveying information, but a story that leads to a relationship. We shouldn’t try to explain or define too much… but work together (within our communities) to understand the story and embrace the mystery.

This is a BIG story!

Yet we struggle with mystery.

We want control.

We want things in manageable sizes and forms.

The addition of chapter and verse gave possibility for the Bible to become a reference book instead of a living book — a story to get lost (and found) in.

The bible is a living work — a living body — and not a dead one.

We need to understand the nature of language.

We can’t translate from one language to another literally, but truly.

Words like inerrancy and infallibility are OK terms for the Bible — but not literal — literal is a problem word.

The Bible has to be read — and understood — within the larger context of the entire Bible.

Cultural exegesis is so important here — it helps to know the Biblical culture. Trying to get the world of the Bible into the world of America — that’s our work as “translators.”

16% of today’s young people say that they know how the Bible applies to their specific field of interest.

25% say it was clearly taught to them.

There is a great difference between reading and hearing the Bible. When we hear the Word read aloud we imagine it and remember it a lot better.

We live in an age of tremendous opportunity and challenge. We can’t take anything for granted anymore. Things are the same at the root, but the details are all different, changing.

Scripture invites us in to a conversation… and a life of participation.