A Better Word than Literal

A few days ago, I posted about getting rid of the word "Literal" when talking about the Bible.  And yet I struggled to find a better word than literal to explain how I read it.  Today I want to suggest a new word:

Formationally.

In seminary, I learned more about the Bible by acting it out than I did sitting in a library studying it.  Moving with the rhythms of the story forced me to leave no detail unconsidered and no emotion unexpressed.  How did Abraham feel when ready to sacrifice Isaac?  Why was Elisha encouraged to stay behind when Elijah was moving toward his ascension?  How lonely is a world without communion with God and neighbor?  While I hardly act out stories today (much to my dismay), the Bible still holds that unique power in my life.

The Bible doesn't answer my burning questions about big bang, singularity, quantum physics or extraterrestrial life.  But the Bible does come back with questions which shake, rebuild, nurture and heal my core identity:  Where are you?  Who do you say that I Am?  Who is my neighbor? How long, O Lord? The Bible invites me not to submit to it, but to participate in the story it seeks to tell.  The One I submit to is not words on a page, but the One those words communicate.

According to Jesus, what is most important in this world is not what I know, but who I love.  And while I need to know the ones whom I love, I do not need to master them.  Love instead invites into the interplay of certainty and mystery, doubt and faith.  Jesus invited audiences to participate in the parables, the Bible invites us to participate in the story of faith.

And so, as I read the Bible, I do so formationally.  I do so believing that Christ is being formed in me, and my vision of Christ and neighbor is being formed as I encounter the living God in the Word.