The Bible is a tool, but it is not a cudgel.

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Like many Christians I love the Bible, but mine is not an unconditional love. Some parts are impossible to understand, some passages are horribly cruel, some books are highly confusing.

 But I love it because there are places in the Bible which seem to breathe with the breath of God: the God who is just, merciful, and full of compassion and forgiveness; the God who respects humanity so much that she/he calls me to accountability.

 The Bible is a tool which helps to bring me to deeper and more faithful trust in God.

 It is a tool, not a cudgel.

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 The following tells of a recent experience of mine. Names and places have been changed.

 On Saturday 31st March, together with Zion the therapy dog, I visited a friend "Fred" in a local nursing home.

 I had heard that an acquaintance "Charlie" was in the same nursing home for some physical therapy.

 I first visited Charlie and his life partner "Peter" to discover them all in a tizzy, they were preparing to move to another room.

 So we had a good visit with Fred, then went to Charlie's new room.  There I discovered the reason for their tizzy.

 Charlie had been in a semi private room.  In this particular nursing home the semi private rooms are divided not by a curtain, but by a floor to ceiling wall which extends for about 2/3 of the room's depth.  Thus patients can hear what is happening in the other part of the room, but not see the other occupant. It's a neat design.

 In this case Charlie in one half of the semi private room was visited by the wife of the man in the other half.

 She announced that she and her husband had been married for 33 years.  Peter said "Charlie and I have been together for 47 years".  

 The woman said "so you are homosexuals", and with that she disappeared and then re-appeared with a Bible from which she proceeded to batter Peter and Charlie with the various Bible verses which fundamentalist Christians use to condemn same sex relationships.  She assured Charlie and Peter that they were bound for hell.

 So that's why Charlie moved to a fully private room. He had no other choice. He and Peter had been verbally assaulted by a stranger. 

 This made me mad!  I see no good reason to use the Bible as a cudgel to beat people into faith.  HOW DARE SHE!  This is not of Christ.

 I see many reasons to view the Bible (with all of its anomalies) as a precision tool through which God in mercy and grace calls us to a way and a truth. which leads us to life!

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