Thumbs up? Thumbs down? One of the great gifts of Pandora (www.pandora.com) is the gift of personalization - tell it an artist or a song I like and it will use it's algorithms to personalize a 'radio' station for me based solely on my preferences. I'm still not sure quite what to make of this whole thing, but it has gotten me thinking about how we oftentimes approach the matters of the faith.
In some study and reflection today, as I was looking through the scriptures, I wonder what it would be like to have a Bible where I could give certain passages a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down. Wouldn't it be interesting to have a Bible custom-tailored to my preferences, allowing me to hear what I wanted to hear, and, while not knowing what I would read next, know that chances were very good that it would be something that resonated with me? Wouldn't it be cool to reject a passage of scripture and be relatively certain that I would never have to read it or anything similar to it again?
Go to any bookstore (heck, even Wal-Mart) and you will encounter all sorts of theme-oriented Bibles. You can get a Bible that will be driven to whatever kind of viewpoint you want to hear. Could you imagine the Pandora Bible?
Honestly, I wonder if we don't already have the Pandora Bible. Do we - in thought, word, and deed - live our lives according to that which we encounter in the text, or do we like to delude ourselves into thinking we live according to the text, but in all reality live according to those parts of the text that resonate with us and reject for which we really don't care?
Let me encourage you, dear friends - God's not going to call us to a life that is not ultimately in the best interest of all, including us. So, rather than look for a Pandora Bible, let us accept with faith the truths contained in the Word, and commit to living them out fully as the community of faith in such a way that we give glory to God.
See You Sunday!
Lamar
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