When my children were younger there were times when I was expected to adjudicate in a dispute that had arisen between them. Quite often I was presented with two very different accounts of what had happened. Before I could make a decision I had to make sure I got the story right.

I read with interest the Report of a series of four consultations held recently by our local Uniting Church on the theme of "Exploring Our Future". Although I was invited to attend, along with other members of the Northbridge community, I had other commitments at the time they met. However, I do wish them God's richest blessing as they seek to discover His will for them in the future.

There were a number of interesting matters in the Report, but one item in particular grabbed my attention. It was a reported comment by a leading figure of the NSW Synod of the Uniting Church. According to the Report, he said that "Much of the story of the Old Testament is the story of a community seeking to understand what God demands of them, and how best they can worship with God." This was in the context of his observation that "One of the ways we can understand the Christian story is that it is about search for human wholeness and a sense of what life is intended to be."

While this sounds very plausible, and was apparently accepted by those who heard it, it is going in the opposite direction to what the Old Testament, and, in fact, the whole Bible is actually saying. Rather than "a community seeking to understand what God demands of them", the story of the OT is about a community that is constantly turning from what God demands of them. Rarely is there any expression of concern "how best they can worship with God." Rather, the constant theme of the OT is God's pleading with his people to turn from their adulterous worship of false gods.

The Scripture Union Bible readings this past week have been in the Book of Judges, the story of God's people in the early days of their settlement in the Promised Land. The stories in this Book follow a recurring theme. The Israelites "did evil in the eyes of the Lord" by worshiping foreign gods. The Lord gave them into the hands of a foreign power who oppressed them. The people cried out to the Lord for help, and he sent a ‘Judge’ or deliverer to rescue them. When the Judge died the people returned to heir evil ways and the cycle began again.

The idea of basing our understanding of the Christian life, and our understanding of the future of the Church on the story of the Bible is a very good one. After all, our life as Christians, and the very existence of the Church only arise from what God has done for us in Christ. And our only sure knowledge of that comes from the Bible.

However, we must make sure that we get the story right! Especially on the crucial issue of who the story is about. The Bible is NOT about a "search for human wholeness", or "seeking to understand what God demands". In fact, it is not in any way the story of a movement from us to God. From cover to cover it is the story of God reaching out to a sinful, rebellious humanity. Even those whom he chose especially, rescued out of slavery and carried in his arms, persistently rebelled against Him. The initiative in the relationship between God and his people always came from God. The Covenants that were established between God and his people were always instigated by God. And, in fact, were usually broken by the people ,within a very short time of their agreement.

Rarely in the Bible is there any evidence or men seeking after God. Rather, as the psalmist observes: "The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one." (Psalm 14:2,3) The Lord says through the prophet Isaiah: "All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations -- a people who continually provoke me to my very face (Isaiah 65:2,3)

The New Testament, also, leaves us under no illusions about the true nature of man. Jesus said that "from within out of men's hearts come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly." (Mark 7:21, 22) His ministry was not focussed on the ‘good’, religious people, but on the garbage of society. When he was criticised for eating with the tax collectors and "sinners" Jesus said: "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners (Mark 2:17)

It may well be that one of the reasons that the Church is thought to be irrelevant to a large number today is that it is perceived as a place for ‘good’ people seeking after God. The true Biblical picture is that the church is a hospital for sinners who have been rescued by God. If we don’t get the story right then we are not going to find our true future in God. The story of the Bible, as one of the greats of the past expressed it, is "The Grace of God abounding to the chief of sinners." Thank God for that!