| Which Came First? The Chicken or the Egg?, part 2 |
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2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.  Do your experiences define the Scriptures or do the Scriptures define your experiences?
I read an interesting book recently and it has really challenged the way that I have viewed some things in terms of theology. Things such as: Baptism, End Times, Gifts, etc.
As I thought about this, I concluded that it is never a bad thing to have your theology questioned/challenged. Why? It will do one of at least two things.
1. It will confirm your theology and make you that much stronger.
2. It will correct your theology and make you that much stronger.
Notice that whether we confirm or correct, we grow in our faith as we grow in the knowledge of who God is and even who He isn't. We grow as we have a better understanding as to what we believe and what others have as theirs. Challenges should steer us to go to God's Word to verify and/or nullify.
So often, we either read the Bible with our denominational contact lens supplied by our denomination (go figure) or with the contact lens of one who has made up their mind before even - and as a result, one who reads into the Bible what he/she wants to read.
Why? Maybe because that is the way we have always done it. Maybe it is because that is the safest way of keeping our churches happy. Maybe it is due to time restraints that we seem to find ourselves in and as a result, we want to make Bible study easy.
Maybe. BUT, maybe the reason is we don't know how to read it any other way. The Bible at times can be so confusing if we do not "rightly divide" the Word of God (2 Timothy 2:15), and as a result of some of the confusion, people, even great Christians, can become discouraged and neglect the wonderful gift of God's Word.
Now I am no expert on this topic, but what I do know is that I need to take more of an initiative to read and study the Bible objectively. Then and ONLY then will I be so convinced of what I know to be truth that my foundations will be unshakable!
Why do we not do that? Why wouldn't this be the case? Why does this not happen? Let me share some thoughts that I have concerning that.
It is easy to do with our respective lens in place! Really! If I am going to prepare a message or lesson for a church service and I know I can eliminate a good portion of the work by putting on one set of my prescription glasses (Baptist, Methodist, Charismatic, etc), I might be persuaded to do so. For in so doing, I eliminate a great deal of the pressure and burden that comes with the prep work.
Don't misunderstand me, I am not saying it makes it easy, but it does make it easier.
It is kind of like hitting the easy button we see on television.
Now, what if we started with a blank slate and said I want to know everything there is to know about this passage before I even consider the perspective of another. What if we said that regardless of our denominational influences, we are going to seek to see this passage for what it is even if it is to challenge the way we have seen it before.
You know what will happen, when it is all and said and done, we will be rock solid in our conviction about what the passage was intended to mean when God inspired the men who wrote the Bible to write what He dictates.
Try it and see. You just may find that your Othopraxy and your Orthodoxy don't mesh with one another, and that what we have is more in line with folk theology!
By the way, the initial question asked was found in the book mentioned at the beginning.
(MORE TO COME) |
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