Today in my lecture on the Gospels to my third year students I had the opportunity to talk about some of the passages of the Bible that I ponder on particularly often and particularly seriously. When I ponder scriptures, I often wonder about their application to me, and the extent to which I am living up to the biblical standard. After all, I am very mindful of the dangers of being a hypocrite who preaches virtue that he does not practice, or of trying to teach others that which I do not know, and I wish to avoid that problem.

It was particularly ironic to speak of the Pharisees and the doctors of the law who had rejected the teaching of John the Baptist, probably because he was not well-credentialed in their eyes or credible in their standard of intellectual prowess. Even though I am a self-aware intellectual myself, I feel it necessary to warn others about the dangers of intellectual arrogance. After all, as much as we all want wisdom and knowledge, we have to be aware that their possession does not make us better people, but rather gives us the responsibility of putting that knowledge into practice and in teaching others the understanding that God has provided through our words and actions. This is a responsibility I take particularly seriously, and do not wish for any such pride as I possess to get in the way of doing what God has set for me to do.

It was also ironic, in a way, to speak of one of the verses that is one of my own personal memory passages, commenting on how God holds us all accountable for each of the idle words we say. This verse is particularly important to me, because as a prolific talker and writer, the potential for saying idle words is immense, and therefore the amount of attention I have to pay to my wordsmithing is far beyond even that of most people. Far too often my words are interpreted as being different than I mean them, which requires even more words to explain, and I would like to become proficient enough at conveying concern and respect to at least head off many of the potential difficulties that result from being outspoken in the fashion that I am.

One thing I wanted my students to understand, and to recognize that I knew, is that while education can give us a large vocabulary that is hard for others to understand sometimes, that our actions should demonstrate the way that we think and feel in ways that anyone can understand. If we fill our hearts with that which is respectful, honorable, true, considerate, and loving, those actions will (eventually) be visible as fruits that others can see and appreciate. Even if someone speaks or writes in ways that are hard to understand, the way that they live their life should be a far more eloquent teacher of truth than each of our poor tongues or pens or keyboards can be otherwise. And so long as we are open to learning and growing ourselves, and recognizing our own need for continuous improvement, we can avoid the worst excesses of such gifts and abilities as God has given us in thinking that those gifts make us special or exempt from the need to show love and concern and respect for others.

One other point I wanted them to understand clearly was that if we are truly zealous for the opportunity to become better people, then God will give us all the practice that we need. This is a lesson I think about often, since it is clear to me that I need to practice showing the concern and respect I feel for others in ways that are both appropriate and visible, given that it is often difficult for others to divine my often rather complicated feelings, which appear to them all too often as anger when the reality is much more nuanced and ambivalent. But all of us have much to work on, and if we are truly zealous for the Kingdom of God, and desire to be better people, and ask God for help and practice in becoming more godly, that we will get all the practice we need.

There is much to ponder when we read the Bible. We must be aware of the applicability of the message to the specific audience of the time, as well as its continuing applicability for us, its close context as well as whole biblical context, and be sensitive to irony and sarcasm (which I suppose might be easier for those of us that are particularly ironic and sarcastic ourselves). It is my hope that I am able to convey at least as much truth through my example and my way of living as I am through my words that may sometimes be hard to understand for those who have not walked in my shoes or understand my sometimes blunt and sometimes deeply indirect ways. But I hope that as complicated as I am, that I might at least set a good example for others to follow. If so, it is enough.