Dear Family and Friends,

My father loved baseball. In fact, he loved it so much, to be with him often meant being around baseball.

I remember tagging along with my dad to the Hawai’i Islanders baseball games. And when our children spent time at my parent’s home, grandpa almost always had the television tuned to a baseball game.

While I never became as passionate about the game as my father, I do follow certain teams. And certain players – like a young man from Japan named Shohei Ohtani.

If you’ve never heard of Shohei, look him up. All I can say is no one has done what this man is able to do – ever. Most baseball writers have run out of superlatives to describe him, some even saying he’s better than Babe Ruth.

In a recent interview, his father (and youth coach) said that contrary to popular belief, his now famous son was actually very average growing up. His father then went on to attribute his son’s success to his drive and determination to constantly improve.

My hope for us regular humans is this: that we be instilled with a similar drive and determination to constantly improve. To be the best we can be, not from a worldly perspective, but as followers of Christ.

My prayer for us is borrowed from Paul’s prayer for the Colossians. “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;” ‭‭Colossians‬ ‭1:9-10‬ ESV

Let’s devote our time today to the last phrase in this passage, increasing in the knowledge of God.

After having read the Bible several times, did you notice that even though your knowledge of God was still increasing, it was increasing at a decreasing rate?

Did you notice that the words weren’t as fresh as they once were? They weren’t speaking as deeply into your life as they once did?

I did. And for me, this experience, or shall I say lack thereof, was sapping my enthusiasm, my drive to improve.

I suspect this is quite natural given we usually read God’s word only one way, from our own personal perspective. One that is limited to our knowledge, our personal life experiences, and our understanding of how the world works.

Furthermore, have you noticed that when reading the Bible, you tend to assume that other societies and cultures are just like our own?

This human perspective is called ethnocentrism, defined as the evaluation of other cultures according to preconceptions originating in the standards and customs of one’s own culture.

Here is a quick example of what this means.

The phrase ‘to be gathered to’ or ‘to sleep with’ can found several times in the Old Testament. Most of us assume this is simply an ancient way of referring to death.

These phrases are actually referring to an ancient Israeli practice of burying the dead just to allow for the decomposition of the flesh. Then a year later, they gather the bones and lay them to rest, together with their ancestors, in the family tomb.

That said, let’s look at one way of broadening our perspective and resuscitating our Bible reading experience. It’s a practice I started a year ago.

In short, I’m training myself to read and better understand the Bible from the perspective of the authors of the Bible.

How? By reading lots of books that examine the history and culture of the times when the Bible was written.

There are many smart people who have shared their research, knowledge, wisdom, and perspective in books designed to help us better understand the Bible.

Authors like Francis Chan, Dallas Willard, NT Wright, Preston Sprinkle, Sandra Richter, and Philip Yancey offer insights and perspectives that would take years, if ever, to achieve on our own.

I’m not suggesting that one has to agree with every word they write. The Bible is our sole source of Truth. These books offer thoughts to consider as we strive to broaden our perspective of the Bible.

There was a stretch of time when Shohei’s quest to improve plateaued. A recent NHK documentary revealed how he overcame his setback and took his game to the next level. What did he do?

He started to meticulously study every batter and pitcher in the major leagues. He wanted to broaden his perspective through the knowledge of others.

What he did was no different than what I’m hoping we will consider: to broaden our perspective through the knowledge of others. 

The Bible can come alive in our hands. The biblical personalities and their stories can become personal and relatable when we understand the much different world they were living in. 

We will see that the Bible is truly a book of life, a tutorial on how to not just survive, but to thrive!

And recognize that the Bible is not only God’s story, it’s our story as well.

In love always,