Step 3 (cont…)

Studying the Bible
The source we must turn to for our foundation in any message is of course the Bible. We must read it and live it. But the well spring of life is Jesus and you can know the Bible inside out and still not know Jesus.

There are many methods and directions you can go with studying the Bible, and each method is determined by what you hope to achieve while reading it. Some people filter it simply as an historical account. Some view it as the living Word of God, but actually still only treat it as a historical work. There is of course great value and understanding to be gleaned from looking at the historical context in which the Bible is set, but God never intended to isolate his Holy Words to a portion of history. Indeed it is a light to the path for mankind’s feet for every era of history, from past to present to the end of time. It is not a report on what has happened or may still happen, but a reflection of a living God. No it’s not just that even… for the word of God is God. He inhabits the words and speaks to our hearts TODAY. Only with eyes to see and ears to hear can we hear him speak to us today, but for those who choose to take the Bible from this angle, here is how I most favor reading the Bible taught to me by Pastor Randy Gariss from College Heights in Joplin. Reading a section at a time, maybe a chapter, I then take each paragraph and ask this question: ‘What does God want to say to ME from reading this? What is it he wants ME to know?’ From that I may find one, possibly two points from each paragraph. I write them down in order, until I have been through all the paragraphs and have about 6-10 points. Personally I take it a step further; I then use these points to write a continuous message back to myself as though it were Jesus talking to me. It makes it much more personal and I find it easier to read through than a list of points. The trick is to be as honest and true to the passage as possible. Of course this is where historical context and detailed study can bring to light much deeper truths from the text, but pulling out these details and viewing the Bible with a microscope can cause a person to miss the whole point. God is speaking to ME… TODAY. Deeper study into the nuances of Jewish culture and the Roman world aid us in our journey of discovery, but they are part of the journey not the objective. That is all they are: tools and aids to the deeper and personal reality of God alive and active in my life. The Bible is not just an inspiring story of other people’s lives from yesteryear.

It seems to me in Christian circles we adopt and throw around a lot of clichés or sayings which quite often we haven’t fully thought through for ourselves. One such cliché is: ‘The Bible is the ultimate authority of God’. Have you heard that before? What does that actually mean? If you think about it, if you are going through a rough time, or maybe have a hard decision to make you may go to the Bible as your ultimate authority in deciding Gods will for you in your decisions, but in what way do you get your answer. Is it really the Bible that answers you and is therefore the ultimate authority, or do we mean something more when we say this?

For me as a 19 year old I was laid off from my construction management job in London and my life came to a crossroads. As I was despairing, swallowed by confusion I opened my Bible for answers. I don’t remember how much I read, if it was a whole chapter, or if I just jumped straight to this one verse, but for whatever reason the words jumped off the page and slapped me in my face. Acts 4:11 in my NIV said ‘…the Stone the builders rejected which became the Capstone…’ I could be wrong, but God was demanding I pay attention to these words. In context these are words about Jesus and have nothing to do with Mark Jannetta in 1997 or whatever date it was… or were they? Can they be both? Are these dead words describing only what has been, or are they living words to feed my soul in my neediest times? These words engulfed me with hope, with acknowledgement that God saw where I was at, saw my brokenness and loved me. He still had a plan for me despite anyone else’s rejection; he would bring me back on top of things. The builders could reject me, but I was still worth something to God, who saw me right there and then in my situation. Can God speak completely free from historical context a very personal promise to me in my world? I think he can and that kind of ‘word’ is more valuable than anything else. It is buried treasure. It took root in me as a seed which grew and bore fruit. That is his kingdom; alive and active and sharper than any sword. It changed my life.

Back to the point, what was the ultimate authority on which I built my life from then on? It came through the words on the page of my Bible, but it was Gods spirit calling to the deep places of my heart, not to my head, which spoke to me with authority and clarity. The ultimate authority was not my invention of what I thought it said, a dissection of the literal meaning of the words, and what it was suppose to say, or what it meant in context, the ultimate authority I listened to, was the leading of Gods Holy Spirit. We are called to worship in Spirit and in Truth. Yes the Bible is full of the truth to be read and stored in our heads. It can give us plenty of practical insight and guidance on daily living without any need of any kind of ‘revelation’, but it is not to be confused with God himself. God is God. He is the ultimate focus, commander and authority. It is to him we bow, not the Bible in his place. We must be careful to what we pledge our allegiance or we could be in danger of idolatry. Many good people base far too much emphasis on the knowledge they fill their heads with and miss the very heart of God in a much deeper personal way. The gate to Gods heart and Gods heart to you is through Jesus and Jesus is the Word and Jesus is alive and speaking today, so don’t isolate your view of Gods word to a short sighted historical document, where minute details about culture and context put you on a platform over others who do not know such things. It is supposed to be a dialogue between you and God, not a source of info you can use to talk about God. Knowledge puffs up, love builds up. Little children can know God deeper than the brainiest college professor. All they need do is tune in their hearts as children do, while adults engage too much of their brains. Reason and understanding is greatly over valued. We are too smart for our own good. And it is our own eternal good which is sacrificed as we put to death faith and substitute it for reason, for Gods truth is not revealed by what we know but through who we know. It is God we learn to know as we delve into the Bible and look beyond the mere words on the page. Behind the veneer of a historical manuscript is the person and reality of God. That is what we must seek and look for behind the humble black and white text, because that is where we find the ultimate reality of our lives; the final authority sharing and guiding us in a very creative and personal way. It is a simple and closed mind that can only take the good book at face value; one that tries to confine God to one avenue, to one method, to a restricted and finite religion. This is for people who play it safe. Who can not abandon themselves to faith, but feel they must figure everything out and that they hold life’s answers.