How NOT to Read the Bible
The Bible is a beautiful and awe-inspiring book. It's filled with history, poetry, wisdom literature, narrative, and more. It was written throughout hundreds and thousands of years by many different authors, yet it remains one cohesive whole. It is a book that should be revisited and reread over and over.
Because of its uniqueness, and it's divinely-inspired authorship, understanding how not to read the Bible is just as important as understanding how to read it. For if we approach the Bible in the wrong way, we could end up missing what the Bible is trying to do and say.
Therefore, the Bible is not:
A list of rules given by God to try and control us and measure who God approves and who He doesn't.
An encyclopedia sectioned into a bunch of different topics such as parenting, leadership, finances, relationships, vocation, etc. It's not as though we can look up these topics in a table of contents and read a chapter or two seeking to learn more about it.
A book of wise and encouraging sayings that gives us advice when we need it and picks us up when we're down.
A book of disconnected stories with moral lessons that put us on the right track to a good life.
A book of life principles that if they were simply put into practice, we would be able to achieve everything we want out of this life.
The Bible may contain some of these things, but it is not fundamentally these things.
When we view the Bible as listed above, the temptation is to engage with the Bible only when we perceive that we need something from it, i.e. advice, wisdom, guidance, etc. And when we've received what we need, we can set it aside.
We've been saying over the last few weeks in our videos and other posts that the Bible is a story. It's the story of God's creative and redemptive love vividly demonstrated by His Son Jesus that is mending the brokenness of our world.
But the Bible is also God's self-revelation. It's the way that He makes Himself known in order that we might have access to a relationship with Him.
Therefore, our motivation for reading the Bible isn't to get something from it, whether it be inspiration or encouragement, although those things do come our way. The reason we engage with the Scriptures is to meet with God because a relationship with Him is far more valuable than any other benefit we might receive.