Science tells us that, in nature, things tend toward disorder–that time spawns chaos. In the church, I suspect the opposite is true. We take simple things and make them complex. This is certainly true of spiritual gifts. We read texts like 1 Corinthians 12 and make seminars, sophisticated gifts assessment inventories, and committees to direct spiritual gift development. No doubt these tools have served some people well but what the apostle Paul really meant to say was quite simple: God made you who you are for a purpose. In the Corinthian church, they had certainly noticed their unique approaches to life (There is evidence in the fact that Paul spends much of his letter telling them how to work together in spite of differences). The same is true for most of us. We don’t need spiritual gifts inventories or the like to tell us what excites us and what we’re good at. We just need to employ creativity in finding ways to use our gifts to serve him. It’s quite simple.
In a previous post, I suggested that appropriate Bible study let’s Scripture set the agenda. Let me explain what I mean. Much of Bible study is done to establish doctrine, which means that we look for specific answers when we open our Bible’s. This may be church doctrine or a personally relevant biblical doctrine. This, however, can blind us to the real biblical themes and cause us to see only what we choose to see. It can lock us in to our preconceived framework of truths and leave us without large pieces of the puzzle that will change the picture entirely. We should, instead, sit at the foot of Scripture and let God tell us what matters most to him. There may be times when we need to study specific topics but this study will be fruitful only if we have first let Scripture set the agenda and build the framework for our understanding.
One reason Christians splinter into so many denominations is that Christians don’t know how to study the Bible. When we sit down at the Word of God, strange behaviors take over. Instead of taking in the whole message and letting it guide our thoughts, we look for key statements that we can string together to support views we already hold. It is the only source of vital information I know of that people resist being informed by.
I think I have room to speak, because I am describing my own behaviors in a not too distant time. I would have never thought to take a collection of isolated statements from the morning newspaper and construct the day’s events as I thought they should be. So, why such behavior with God’s Word?
Before you claim innocence, consider this: Do you read the Bible with a study-guide or a concordance? Or do you look for the story as it unfolds before you? Broad reading is the only way to receive the message as it comes. After the big message has been received, filling in the details with a more directed study (i.e. concordances and study guides) is appropriate. But, I am convinced that the bread and butter of Bible study is broad reading.