Bible as Compass 6.13.2024

     Getting lost is becoming a lost art form. With our telephones in the seat next to us or connected directly to our car’s internal systems, there is always a sweet-sounding voice giving us directions. We don’t even have to take our eyes off the road. Back in the olden days, say any time before around 2005, people got lost more frequently and sometimes with great panache. 

    Men who were lost did not want to be found out by their wives or offspring so they would turn their confusion into an excursion. Eventually working out the mistake and subsequent corrections mentally, most men could spend hours lost and make the experience a seamless part of the plan. We have lost that craftsmanship. If I’m driving with my phone supplying directions via CarPlay, Mrs. Beckman, sitting right next to me can simply look up the destination on her phone, and give me that knowing look followed by the indictment. “You’re lost.” She doesn’t even have to phrase the accusation as a question anymore. She’s got the evidence right in front of her. So, it’s a different world here in 2024. 

    One of the uses of the Bible is to give God’s people direction. It is like our compass, the old-fashioned instrument we used prior to GPS and Siri. A compass is an instrument that always gives a true bearing. A person can travel by memorizing roads. If they reroute the roads (or a bridge goes out or they’re doing construction) a memorized route is useless. It might even be a detriment. A person can travel by using a map. Maps are vulnerable to the very same issues that route memorization confronts. Roads change and unforeseeable issues arise rendering the map useless. Landmarks! “Go east till you see Edgar’s old tractor, go past the jog to the 3 windowed barn, and turn left.” Those sorts of directions are common in rural areas like my neighborhood, but don’t help much if you are not a native. And again, Edgar may move the tractor, or the barn may finally fall down. 

    At some point, we need directions that are not context-dependent. We need a way to find our true bearing. All that a GPS is, is a system that uses satellites to calculate a true bearing. Like all electromechanical systems, they are vulnerable to electro-problems that render them useless. As long as a compass is properly functioning and as long as the poles are still at the top and bottom of the globe, a compass will work and give a true bearing unless you are standing atop the globe, where presumably you won’t be reading this essay. The Bible gives us a true bearing by providing curated, necessary, and accurate, universal information. 

We either forget or neglect the fact that the Bible reveals what God deems necessary for our salvation. It is not exhaustive. Consider the following New Testament passages:

“Luke 1:1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, Luke 1:2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, Luke 1:3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, Luke 1:4 that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.”  

Luke tells us that he investigated, compared, and chose what is included in his gospel (and the book of Acts) to provide certainty for his believing audience. The process implies what we would call “curation.” He was working towards a purpose writing to meet that purpose. 

“John 20:30   Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; John 20:31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30-31 ESV)

“Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” (John 21:25 ESV)

John makes a similar point to Luke twice, specifically pointing out not only that signs and other events from the life of Jesus were omitted but that in so doing, he too was pursuing a specific agenda.

“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4 ESV)

 Paul reminds us that the Scripture was written for our instruction to provide endurance through encouragement. This is a brief sample but each of these three authors reinforces the point. The Bible is not a comprehensive account of everything that happened from Genesis to Revelation. It doesn’t even tell us everything said or done by the central characters of the unfolding scheme of redemption. It is curated, selective, and intentional The authors, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, chose what God intended for His Church, to provide guidance--a true bearing during hard times. One of my old professors did not use the same terminology but he made the same point. “The Bible is not intended to satisfy your curiosity but to guide us to salvation and in Christian living.”

    Like a compass, the Scriptures provide a true bearing. It has provided guidance throughout the history of the Church. Many of the problems in the contemporary Church have arisen because misguided leaders have tried to lead the Church using tools that lack the capacity to provide the information the Church needs. Relying on the rough equivalent of modern maps or fancy new technologies the Church flails around lost, looking for a true bearing, forgetting we already have it, resting on our pulpits or sitting in a pew rack. Perhaps we should rekindle a desire to do as God wishes and learn how to get a true bearing from His Word.