This week I participated in a discussion in a group here on Facebook. We discussed the “biblical roles” of women. The question I answered was about what Genesis says about the “roles of women.” (I’ll dig into this another day)
I love discussions like this because we need to explore what the Bible really says about everything pertaining to life. We need to do that in community because it gives us accountability and exposes any error in how we approach the Bible. This is especially needed today when so many in the Church, including preachers, determine their beliefs from what they are “told” or “taught” rather than doing the hard work of digging deep to find what God really says in the Bible for themselves.
Recent studies reveal that less than 3% Christians read the Bible regularly. Now—the punchline to that research—“regularly” is defined as 3-4 times a year outside of church or church Bible studies.
This burdens my heart! Our mission as the Church is not to build bigger churches, pack more seats, or manage bigger budgets—it IS to fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus Christ by making disciples of Jesus Christ. The first step toward fulfilling that Great Commission is grounding them in the Word of God. These statistics reveal that we are failing in our mandate.
Apart from being grounded firmly in the Bible, many are misunderstanding God’s design, purpose, plan, and mission. It is literally impossible to discern apart from the Word. Apart from the Word, we cannot discern the voice of God…we cannot effectively share the full gospel… we easily fall into error…and we open ourselves up to apostasy.
Does that sound harsh?
It’s true.
So few are taught the Bible accurately, much less how to think theologically for themselves. It is becoming more and more rare. I could really see it this week during this discussion.
All of us were looking at the exact same scripture passages (this is very common in the areas of difference). Several had similar backgrounds in training. We were all on the same level ground but one thing was different.
If you want to know how to correctly interpret the Bible, this is an excellent situation to learn from.
What concerned me were those who reached their interpretations by what “they saw” in scripture. Their argument for their interpretation was that they could “see” what they believed by “clearly reading the Bible” or by “the clear reading of the Bible.” They would not look at the full counsel of the Bible which does fully explain it very differently. They picked their text that they felt “proved their point” and explained how it “clearly” defined the roles of women (it doesn’t say ANYTHING about roles, that has to be read into the passage).
For those unfamiliar with theological debate, there are many different views about the biblically accurate interpretation of the Bible. The “clear reading of the Bible” is not the same as having an “accurate reading of the Bible.”
We all bring presuppositions into the reading of the Bible, even if it’s our first time reading it. We cannot read anything, much less the Bible, without acknowledging that we are unable to read without bringing along some ideas outside the Bible, even if it is our insufficient understanding of words. In many ways saying that one is basing their beliefs from a “clear reading” is often a cop-out for actually studying the Bible well.
Katharine Bushnell explains it best:
“We are mistaken when we think we can get along on a slovenly and incomplete knowledge of the Bible. No amount of spiritual experience, or even the Spirit’s help and instruction will take the place of the study God requires us to put upon His Word.” Katherine Bushnell “God’s Word to Women” (1903)
The Bible is not a historical text that we merely read for fact and information.
The Bible is not a mere devotional that we “clearly read” apart from deep study.
Simply reading the Bible for what can be lifted from it “on the surface” or by “clear reading” is devotional reading. It is a wonderful way to get started reading the Bible, but there is so much more in the pages of the Bible. We cannot read it devotionally and stop there.
While we “can” read it for information and facts or even devotionally, this is insufficient for developing doctrine and theologically accurate views. It is also insufficient if we think that this is enough and never dare to dig deeper. I believe this is what Paul meant when he wrote 1 Corinthians 3:2:
“I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready” (1 Corinthians 3:2).
There are riches that can only be learned when learning to study it for our theology of life.
Going back to the discussion this week—What I found was even more disturbing—that they were not “clearly reading the Bible,” but “reading into” the Bible what they had been taught that it meant.
In other words, they did not want to look at what those verses really meant in the original language, look at how they fall into the entire biblical narrative, or consider context. They were committed to what they had been “told” the scripture means.
They were looking through the lens of their traditions, not a truly accurate theological lens. This was indicated by their presuppositions which were almost line-upon-line drawn from a particular theological camp.
They could only grasp what they were told to grasp.
Those presuppositions could never stand under proper exegesis and against a proper hermeneutical approach to scripture because they are not built upon what the Bible really says, but upon traditions, recent traditions.
Of course, this is how most read, interpret, and argue the Bible today. Shall I interject that if this is our method, we are not doing due diligence in our study. There is so much more in the Bible than the basics that most learn from their Sunday morning dips into a verse or two!
I don’t blame anyone for this approach. So few of us are taught to read and study the Bible any different. In fact, most of us are taught to study THIS WAY. We are given this framework and told that this is how we are to read the Bible. It leaves a lot of holes, questions, gaps, inconsistencies, and contradictions. It also creates disunity and division in the Church.
The good news, it’s no longer working in the Church. We are seeing a huge shift that I pray demands that we get back to biblical discipleship.
While there is sooo much more I want to unpack (and I promise that I will!), today I challenge you to pull out your Bible and dig into it.
Don’t take my word or anyone else’s word for what God says in the Bible, especially in regards to who you are, why you are here, what you are to be all about, Who God is, and how He works. This is an invitation for you to approach the Bible and see for yourself what God says.
Dare to read it.
Dare to study it.
Dare to dig deep into the original words used and their meanings.
Find some old sermons and see what others from the past have seen in their study.
Perhaps dare to sit with the “other side” to hear what they are getting from their study (I do this all the time—looking up the passages of scripture they use, digging into what those passages really mean, etc).
Until we dig deep, we have not done our due diligence.
God desires to grow us, mature us, and form us. His ultimate goal is for us to be formed and transformed into the image of Jesus Christ so we can help others be formed and transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.
This is one purpose of our daily spiritual disciplines—they transform us. This takes much time in the Word. We don’t get this any other way . This takes much time of His Word working in us. It takes much time in His presence. It takes much time in communion and relationship with Him—directly with Him.
God wants for us to encounter Him. He is encountered in the Word.
This comes from time directly in His presence, reading His Word so we can learn to know and recognize His voice —lots of time.
This comes from encountering His Word until we are astonished by it and taken into the adventure of it.
This comes from chewing on the word until we are fully nourished by it.
Make a commitment now to take this sweet time. You won’t come away empty!
