Who am I as a reader of scripture?

For today's class in my Doctor of Ministry course "Hermeneutical Theory and Reading Practices" we were asked to write a reflection of who we are as readers of the Bible. As human beings and interested readers, we bring certain perspectives, experiences, expectations, and biases to our reading which then shape our understanding--all of which we usually take for granted.  It was a useful exercise; I share it with you here.

I come to the task of reading scripture as a lifelong, active, involved, interested practitioner of Lutheran Christianity (my biography begins “I was born at Iowa Lutheran Hospital…”). This has shaped my understanding and my expectation for scripture reading: I understand God to be Trinitarian; I understand Christianity to be a continuation of the saving work of God as we know it in Hebrew scripture. I expect God always to be working for life—renewing, restoring, creating, discovering, reclaiming, healing, reconnecting—in the midst of death; I expect God works through scripture, but not exclusively, to accomplish this new life; I expect God to be bigger than the Bible (or what we know of God in the Bible); I expect some mystery to remain (or to have been created) when I finish reading. 

I value relationships and people, so I read with much empathy. I am sensitive to the rich diversity of culture, so I try to have an “understanding” of what’s happening in a story relative to the culture of the story, read through my culture as reader. As an adopted child, I am always concerned about who’s being left out and how people belong in community, with one another, and to God. As a woman and a mother I am drawn to stories about women and mothers and how they are represented in scripture, and curious (suspicious) about women who are left out of stories where they ought to have been present. I have a heart for marginalized people (women, children, Latino/a, LGBT in particular) so I tend to read with a feminist/liberation lens. I want God to come off looking good, so I read in a way that tries to “reclaim” scripture for the marginalized, particularly parts which have been androcentrized and over-patriarchalized (how can my reading “redeem” these passages to bring life to the marginalized?). If I am protecting someone, it is probably the powerless, and God—I want them to get along and to meet each other in the best light. I am also protective of scripture itself, insofar as I have very limited tolerance for it being used for purposes that are not life-giving (proof-texting to make political points, eg). 

I have been a pastor for 19 years, in 3 different states; I grew up in a family in which I am the most highly educated (excepting one uncle with a PhD) and which is greatly affected by generations of alcoholism.  Therefore I also read with an awareness of brokenness and an appreciation of a range of emotions and interactions in real human relationships. Grief and anger are important, as are celebration and joy. Again, I feel much empathy for those who suffer in scripture and because of scripture. 

I also read as a pastor who will “represent” God to a congregation in my preaching and teaching, so it is not only my personal context that shapes my reading, but also the communal context (and the details which sometimes I alone know) that affects how and what I read. 

 I believe the Bible is what God wants us to know, but it isn’t exhaustive—it’s a starting point. I expect to be transformed by this Living Word, but it may be in ways I fail to notice.