Seven Pages A Day: What Would Your T-Shirt Say?

Wow.  I didn’t realize how hard it would be to blog about reading the Bible seven pages a day.  Over seven days, that’s a whole lotta pages!  I’ve already finished the Gospel of Matthew.  This Gospel was written by Matthew.  Matthew was probably a wealthy Jewish tax collector who was called to be a disciple and apostle by Jesus.  It’s clear he was writing to a Jewish audience because of his familiar references to prophecies from the Old testament and to Jewish customs which he doesn’t bother to explain.  Even so, a quick read of this Gospel by anyone is a moving experience. 

I decided I wanted time to digest what I’d read to some degree before moving on to the next Gospel.  So I skipped ahead to the letters of Paul.  Paul was a devout Jew who experienced a life changing conversion to Jesus Christ.  His missionary work and writings transformed the religious beliefs and philosophies in the lands around the Mediterranean seas.  It’s largely thanks to Paul that Christianity became the faith of Gentiles.  This is evident in the letter to the Romans in which he both emphasizes the debt the Gentiles owe to the Israelites, as well as grieves for what he feels was the ultimate lost opportunity, in that his own people did not recognize the promised Messiah.   Next came 1^st Corinthians, with its well-known passage on love in the thirteenth chapter.  Now, I’m reading 2^nd Corinthians.

But still, where to begin?  I thought maybe I would summarize by weighing in on a few of my favorite verses, but even that seemed daunting.  Then I got to thinking about all those book reports I wrote years ago in grammar school.  Maybe I could write little book reports!   I can give each book a title, summarize each one in a sentence or two, and follow it with a brief critique.  Probably leans towards the flippant, but here goes:

Gospel of Matthew:  “The Messiah has Come.”  This is the jaw-dropping story of how the Old Testament promises of a Savior, known as “King of the Jews,”  were fulfilled in Jesus.  Fantastic parables.  Dramatic finish.

Romans:  “The Gift of Faith Comes from The Jews.”   Paul waxes on about the deep roots Christianity has in Judaism, and shows himself to be quite the theologian.   A tad judgmental in tone.

1^st Corinthians:  “Knuckle-rapping in Corinth.”  Paul takes the Christians of Corinth to task on a number of different matters.  Some sections make one Raise the Brow, like 1 Cor.14:36: “It is a disgraceful thing for a woman to speak in a church meeting.”

That last one makes me want to get a t-shirt that says, “Disgracing the Church on a Regular Basis.”  How about you?  What would your t-shirt say?