Less than perfect

I have two new WWTK posts - one about Lot and one about his children. But before I post them, ponder with me a little.

2 Tim. 3:14-17 is a familiar passage about the scriptures which means that it would apply to the portion of the scriptures that include God's stories.

Perhaps one of the most interesting characteristics about God's stories is that His characters are so "not perfect." Frankly, even Jesus yelled at people and caused a commotion in the temple which would lead some people to conclude that He wasn't perfect either. For whatever reason, having grown up in the church, these characters are forever forged in my mind as perfect. Yet every time I read the scriptures it's evident to me that their lives and their choices were far from church-perfect. If they'd lived today, how many of them would we find in our churches? If so, wouldn't they be the ones in need of rebuke, correction and re-training? We're called to live godly lives and these are the people we get to learn from.

What does it mean? What's "perfect"? Is it relevant to our faith? Loving God and loving neighbors - that's relevant. Is being "perfect" what faith and Godly living is all about? What are we striving for as believers walking with God? God's stories are about God interacting and intervening in the lives of men and women like us - people from another culture and another time but still like us. God, of course, is the same yesterday, today, and forever-the God who opened the Red Sea, sent plagues, healed the sick, poured out His Spirit, saved a baby in a basket...

All those stories! "[my paraphrase] You've known the scriptures since you were little. Continue in what you've learned and become convinced of. Consider who you learned from. God's stories (and all of scripture) are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ. They are God-breathed. Use them for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so men and women of God can be thoroughly equipped for every good work." Some stories say "When _______ did this, these were the consequences." Some are not so clear. Yet even as grown-ups God's stories keep teaching us. They rebuke, correct and train us in righteousness. They equip us for every good work even though God's characters aren't perfect. We're learning about God.