I know how shocking it can sound but there is a part of me that wishes the Bible never was written. It's not that I don't cherish the stories and love the lessons that have been passed on for generation after generation. It's just that something was lost when we went from telling the gospel truth to writing it down. Something happened to the freedom that was implied when Jesus whispered words of comfort or proclaimed the promise or even laughed at a joke.

When we put it down on paper we put it into law. We put boundaries around it, fence it in. What may have been an exaggeration for effect, or an off the cuff comment, or even just a really funny joke, became something very different when it went from spoken word to written page. That is why there is this tiny little regret that resides inside me when it comes to the Bible.

I'm convinced that there must be times when God regrets it, too. Times when so-called Christians use these holy stories not to liberate but to oppress. Times when we claim to have all the answers, every solution. Times when we use these heavenly words to produce hellish wounds in the hearts and lives of others.

So many times people have come to my office trying to recover from having been assaulted by someone waving a Bible under their nose or over their head.

I know this is dangerously close to heresy but just for a moment stop and think what Christianity would be like without the Bible. We'd miss so very much to be sure but we just might gain something else, something wonderfully free.