By Jim Nichols

Even those of us who value scripture as having a special holiness and importance recognize that there are other words spoken or written by humans that have more than a hint of inspiration. A preacher friend of mine would consistently identify those by saying offhandedly, “Why, that’s almost Bible.”

Here are some samples.

1. “If we could just do two things, and two things only, it would change everything. Commit to (a) ‘I will not lie and I will not empower liars’ and (b) ‘I will not be cruel, and I will not empower cruelty.’” This is author Russell Moore quoting David French. Is it not amazing how much power and conviction one can pack into a few words? Surely, I am not the only one who feels that we are swimming in a deep sea of cruel liars. Anyone who has power seems to gravitate to these two sins and God cannot be pleased with it. This is most obvious in government leaders, but easily visible in any hierarchical situation such as employment. We now use “fact-checkers” on political speeches, and the resulting “false” lists are long. Why do we continue to tolerate such behavior? Richard Rohr adds, “The days of telling half-truths and getting away with it are over.” You and I have an obligation to call out falsehoods. Scripture identifies Satan as the Father of Lies.

2. “Older people are happier than younger people. Yes, we’d love to have our young bodies back, but no one wants their young mind again, filled with all that anxiety, bias, and selfishness. If younger people could only see what we see and feel what we feel, they’d be a lot less judgmental.” We might argue a bit with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lew Alcindor) on details, but there is clear truth here. For many of us, adding years softens us and allows us to look for good more frequently than bad. It is not just learning from experience, but it is a better ability to almost ask ourselves intuitively, “Is this worth getting stirred up about? Will this change my behavior within the week?” If you have not yet reached this area of thought, be encouraged—it is coming. God can bring us more peace than we have today.

3. “There are many ways to fool yourself into thinking you have Christianity figured out, when really you have remade the Christian God into a deity that suits you.” Author Molly Worthen in Christianity Today. This is a trap for us that is seemingly unavoidable. We take God seriously and use our personal history to interpret what we believe is God’s will for us. The problem is, of course, that your personal history is different than mine. With the blooming of a new war, we find ourselves wondering, “Does war make things better?” As yet another war spreads, do humans ever ask about what is accomplished? We sing and preach about a God of peace, but our personal and national actions are clearly counter to it.

4. “Some things hurt because something unfair happened and no one ever really acknowledged it.” Author Kate Bowler identifies a unique way in which we can be peacemakers and offer a specific blessing from God. I am guessing that each of us has a brief list of life events that had a clear “unfair” feeling to them. We have somewhat accepted that what has happened is over, but it was unfair and we seem to be the only ones who see the unfairness. There was that team I did not make when I was at least as good a player as those who did. There was that church decision that was clearly a bad one. An apology that never came. We keep hoping for a witness in life who will speak words such as, “You are not wrong; that should not have happened.” Could we choose to speak up for others? “I saw what happened and I am sure that hurt.” That is a simple way to offer a blessing.

I am continually surprised at how God speaks in the world, perhaps even unknowingly by the human speaker. It’s almost Bible.

Jim Nichols is a retired Abilene Christian University biology professor and current hospital chaplain