Many of us read the Bible, and many of us do not. Many of us go into Bible reading looking for anything but
transformation, which is unfortunate, given that transformation is the primary reason the written word of God
exists. Devotional Scripture reading requires discipline and
consistency, but its aim is the treasuring of God's word in our hearts
and the delighting of ourselves in God's statutes. We have at our
fingertips the very revelation of God to us, and yet we treat Scripture
like a blunt instrument, like a reference book, like a prop for our
propaganda, anything but the wellspring of God's truth to be
drunk deeply from. Devotional Scripture reading means meditating on
Scripture, chewing on it, savoring it, learning not just how to read
Scripture, but how to feel it.
My conviction is that evangelicals by and large have lost their ability to feel Scripture. The great irony is that now when the Bible is more available than any time in history, we are perhaps more biblically illiterate than any Christian generation in history. The great opportunity in this, of course, is that our generation is now extra ripe for biblical transformation and a revival in commitment to the deep well of Scripture.
I've come up with five ways one might begin to develop a greater feeling for Scripture. Some or all of these may not be new to you (and none were invented by me, of course), as they are basically good practices for essential Bible study, but put into disciplined practice, these approaches to study can condition us to feel Scripture more keenly.
1. Interpret Before You Apply
As Michael Horton once lamented, too many Bible study classes are first asking "What does this passage mean to you?" instead of "What does this passage mean?". The cult of application has dulled many an understanding. Don't jump the gun. Modern Christianity has really overestimated the value of "making the Bible relevant."
Jesus says that if anyone wishes to follow him, he must deny himself and take up his cross. When we leap to application first, we immediately diminish the powerful relevancy of this teaching. We make taking up crosses about dealing with annoying coworkers or a nagging illness, when these applications skip the primary meaning: taking up one's cross is about death. And often thinking too keenly about annoyances and aggravations is self-indulgence, not self-denial.
The Bible is already relevant! In our zeal to "make it" relevant to us, we often lose the danger in its primary relevancy. Because Scripture is God's revelation to us, it is imminently and enduringly relevant.
"Interpretation before application" is is a fundamental element to all Bible study, but if our desire is to develop a greater feel for Scripture, we will more and more subject our feelings to Scripture's unwavering revelation (interpretation) rather than subject Scripture to our feelings (what often happens in the applicational exercise).
2. Keep It In Context
Taking Scripture out of context is epidemic. Whether we are led to do so by those handy verse numbers in our Bibles or by topical preaching that takes a scattershot approach to verse presentation (rather than a more expositional approach) or by our soundbite and short-attention-span culture, many of us have forgotten the cardinal rule of context.
Out of context, Jesus' statement "I have come not to bring peace but a sword" makes him sound like Conan the Barbarian.
Out of context, Hebrews 6:4-6 seems to indicate that Christians can ultimately "lose" their salvation, and indeed many believers use these three verses to support that view. But two verses later (Heb. 6:9), the author of Hebrews is contrasting whatever is being described in Heb 6:4-6 with "things accompanying salvation." If one isn't looking at this full passage on the biblical page one may never see it.
We like to keep Scripture short and manageable, and that's understandable. It's certainly more convenient that way. But we will not be mastered by Scripture if we don't occasionally allow it to overwhelm us, intimidate us, and force us to wrestle with it. Bite size chunks are good for memorization and the like, but to feel Scripture, we have to drink from it deeply, pushing ourselves to capacity, and we must do this constantly and over and over again. Keeping verses in context may prevent us from clearly understanding something right off the bat, but it will also keep us from inadvertently misunderstanding it right off the bat.
3. Make Connections
Scripture is cohesive, a great brilliant tapestry that is interwoven from the same fabric. Contrary to various heresies, God ain't different from Old Testament to New, and Paul didn't invent a different Christianity from Jesus'.
One of the things I chase as important in my preaching (and in the Bible studies I lead) is the connections between the primary passage of focus and related passages elsewhere in Scripture. Typical topical preaching involves a pre-selected topic and then a few isolated verses that relate to the topic. But good Scriptural cross-connection involves a pre-selected passage and then a few other passages that are connected narratively, thematically, or theologically.
Losing a feel for Scripture has resulted from losing our sense of Scriptural continuity. It's all connected; there are no coincidences. (Okay, that's hyperbole; there are some coincidences. But there are many more connections, particularly between Old Testament narrative and New Testament narrative, that testify to the premeditation of God's revelation.)
For instance, last night at our Element Bible study, we looked at the story in John 6 about the disciples in the stormy waters and Jesus walking to them on the waves. One of our exercises involved making connections. There is the obvious connection of the parallel narrative in Matthew's Gospel. Then there are other, less obvious connections like Jesus' declaration "It is I" recalling YHWH's Hebrew self-declaration "I AM." Jesus on the water reminded us of the Spirit hovering over the surface of the deep in the beginning of Genesis. The boat's immediately going to the shore when Jesus boarded brings to mind God separating the land from the chaotic waters in the Creation story. The story itself reminded us of other stormy sea tales, as when Jesus slept below deck while the disciples fretted over a storm. Later in the narrative, the confused crowd and Jesus' words about "food that does not spoil" reminded us of the disgruntled Israelites in Exodus and the manna that was only good for the day, of Jesus' subsequent words on being the Bread of Life, and even of Jesus' words to the Samaritan woman at the well about water that lives.
This is not to say that what one passage means in one place it also means in a place where you have made a connection. It is only to say that Scripture interprets Scripture, and that the more connections we make, the greater feel we will have for the brilliant unity of Scripture. As you're reading a particular passage, ask yourself, "What other passages does this remind me of?" Then track those down. Before you know it, you are making connections, and before you know it, you are getting a feel for the broader and fuller contours of the Bible's story.
4. Apply Prayerfully
When you're ready to apply Scripture -- remember, interpretation comes first -- instead of applying a passage in a static sense, apply in a prayerful, dynamic sense. Here is what I mean by this difference:
Static Application: Reading "Love bears all things" in 1 Corinthians 13 and thinking, "This is important because my husband is really difficult to live with. He's very burdensome." Prayerful Application: Lord, give me the strength and passion to love my husband even when I find it very difficult. Change my heart to bear all things.
The first approach is basic application. It is not invalid so far as it goes. But it is distressingly close to subjecting Scripture to our experience, rather than vice versa. Moreover, it is more observational than it is motivational. It only involves noticing something, not committing to something. This is why I call it static.
The second approach, however, not only presses us to subject our feelings to Scripture -- in the example, the application entails committing to doing something in response -- but it also turns the application into a conversation with the One prompting the response. The reader isn't just noticing "Hey, this reminds me of my problem," she is bringing that problem before the Lord and taking the initiative of being changed by Scripture's addressing of that problem.
In the first approach the temptation is toward gracelessness, because the focus is on what must be endured (a difficult husband). This is counter to the passage itself! In the second approach the impetus is toward grace, because the focus is on loving according to the Scripture's call. This prayerful approach to application is a highly efficient way to begin feeling Scripture.
5. Look For Jesus
All of Scripture either points to Jesus' life and teaching or emerges from it. All of it. To know God, you must know Jesus. And to feel Scripture most keenly, you must see Jesus between its lines and at the beginning and end of its many trajectories. He is there, all over the place, and Christians committed to following him closely will seek the glorious enlightenment of the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24). "Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets" Jesus himself "explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself."
When you're in the Old Testament, wherever you are, ask yourself, "What does this say about Jesus? How does this point to Jesus? Did Jesus ever quote or refer to this? What is the importance of this in the light of Jesus?" Finding Jesus in the Gospels is easy of course, but making the Jesus connection in the epistles is vitally important (again, particularly today when many are telling us that Paul's teaching is wholly different from Jesus').
Scholar N.T. Wright says that we ought to read the New Testament as if Jesus in the Gospels is giving us this sheet music for a masterwork symphony and as if Paul and the other epistolary authors are keen on teaching the Church how to perform it.
If you plan on keeping Christ at the center of your life, you must plan on keeping Christ at the center of your Christian practice, including your Scripture reading.
These are not magic bullets, of course, and no doubt if you are a serious Bible student, you are already putting some or all of these tips into regular practice. If you are, you likely have a much greater feel for the brilliance and power of the Holy Scriptures than the average churchgoer. Let us continue pressing further into the depth and breadth of the transforming Word, submitting our thoughts and feelings to it for the good of our neighbors and for the glory of the Author.
Jared Wilson is the pastor and co-founder of Element, a missional Christian community in
Nashville, Tennessee, and an award-winning writer whose articles, essays, and
short stories have appeared in numerous publications.
Jared's first book, The Unvarnished Jesus, releases Fall 2009 from Kregel.
A graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, he lives outside
Nashville with his wife and two daughters.
Encounter Jared's passion for the ongoing reformation of the evangelical church
almost daily at www.gospeldrivenchurch.com.
Great stuff. I read your blog regularly, and this is an added treat. But, of course, to accomplish what you indicate takes two terrible four-letter words. "Time" and "work," and far too many apprentices of Christ are so busy confusing activity with accomplishment, entertainment for edification, and numbers for depth that those two commodities are critically in short supply.
Jack, thanks so much. You are right. This kind of thing takes a long obedience in the same direction. And we need more and more pastors to preach on the necessity of this tack so that more Christians will hear about it and be inspired to try it.
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