Bible Study: Often Encouraged, Rarely Discussed (Part 1)

How does one shape oneself into the sort of person God calls us to be? I think this is a good question with which to start this whole show. The answer depends greatly upon who you ask. Some people will say it comes from reaching out to the poor and hungry with humanitarian efforts in the name of Christ. Others will say the key is spending hours on end studying the Bible, reading great theologians, and praying. Still others will emphasize rigorous self-enforcement of the moral standard set before us by God. All these people have a point. They’re all right to a certain extent. They’re all missing something, though; they’ve forgotten that the individual cannot shape himself into the sort of person God calls us to be; only God is capable of that.

“Well, then, that puts me in a jam”, we are inclined to think upon realizing this. “I’m completely powerless”. Well, no. Certainly, God is the only being capable of making us into the people he wishes us to be; but we must let Him do it. We must allow Him to be a part of us. But how, exactly, do we go about doing this? I said before that all three of our radical groups from paragraph one are missing the influence of God. Might I also suggest that the people who encourage extreme Bible study are closest to having that influence?

This, perhaps, goes against what you may think; you may be more inclined to say that the humanitarians are closest. This is my first reaction too; here is the reason for my statement, though: the humanitarians are trying to build relationships with Christ without a foundation. They are terribly likely to confuse the true teachings of Christ with their own opinions. They are, in fact, rather unlikely to understand exactly why they are doing all these nice things for others. They are, without realizing it, practicing their own little works-based religion, which in reality has nothing to do with Christianity.

Now, let us take a look at the theologians, the people who are essentially addicted to Bible study. Do they not have the most thorough knowledge of the teachings of Christ? The most basic grasp of what He wants from us? Do they not, most easily put, have the road map for being a Christian? Indeed, they do. They have a solid foundation on which to build a relationship with Christ. Their problem is that they are either too frightened or too ignorant or too lazy to look up from their books and realize that they must get up, go out, and apply all the things they know in their heads to their lives.

Keeping this in mind, I must warn you: Bible study, though it is the most basic, important foundation of Christianity, can become a dangerous pitfall if it is practiced to the extreme. This does not make it any less the foundation, though. If you want to grow as a Christian; if you want to hear the voice of God; if you want to make the decisions that Christ would make, there is no getting around it: you must begin with Bible study.

At this point, many of us begin to feel very uncomfortable. We do not wish to spend any more time in this confusing ancient book than we need to. We wish it had more adjectives, said things more clearly, and sounded more as though it had been written by creatively inclined people. Some of us may even fear that we do not possess the intellect to properly understand it. To make matters worse, the actual process of studying the Bible is rarely if ever discussed in church; we are told to swim, but not shown how. Well, I say all these fears are nonsense. Bible study can be rewarding, exciting, and yes, even enjoyable. Next time, we will look at the specifics.