Do you read the Bible regularly? Do you find it interesting, or do you do it because you think you are supposed to? I have found that many people read the Bible to see what it says to them or about how they should act. When they read it in that context, most of the Bible doesn't apply to them. The result many times is that most of the Bible remains unread. Either the person loses interest in daily Bible reading, or he just stays with the parts that apply to him. In either case, the individual is missing out on the great living and active power of the Bible.
If we read the Bible to see what it says about God, then every word is applicable. Even the long geneologies and all of the details about measurements and ceremonies speak about God's personality and His love for us. As we learn more about the nature of God, we learn how we as individuals should live. Rather than looking for a snippet of scripture that speaks directly to our situations, we look into the entire body of scripture to find the consistent themes that run through both the Old Testament and the New about God's desires for us and His relationship to us. Then when someone comes to us with some teaching or doctrine, we can weigh it against the whole counsel of God instead of relying on a verse or two that may be taken out of context. And we will not be "carried away by every wind of doctrine".
Read the Bible to see what it says about God instead of what it says to you. You'll never get tired of doing that. And it will speak to you.
1 comment:
Randy,
You write, 'If we read the Bible to see what it says about God, then every word is applicable'. You've hit on the crucial issue: the Bible is how it is read; that is to say, how we approach Scripture determines what Scripture can and does say to us.
I've spent quite a bit of time in the last few years thinking about this matter. It seems to me one of our (here I'm speaking primarily of Pentecostals, but it is also true of Evangelicals, and most Protestants as well) problems is that we think reading the Scripture is a can't-fail project, and that the less "theology" we have in our heads the better. In truth, Christian readers of Scripture are made, and made only by being trained by the church in the Christian dogmatic and spiritual traditions, as well as training in how to live in Christian community. In the absence of such training, people are left alone with their Bibles - not a good situation.
You're right to call for a reading of Scripture that sees the "consistent themes," but even this is not enough by itself, necessary as it is. Until we form communities capable of training people to read Scripture Christianly, no hermeneutical sophistications will avail.
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