The Bible Is Not About You!Sample

The Bible is Not About You

In their book The Drama of Scripture, Craig Bartholomew and Mike Goheen summarize this second symptom, and the danger thereof:

“Many of us have read the Bible as if it were merely a mosaic of little bits—theological bits, moral bits, historical-critical bits, sermon bits, devotional bits. But when we read the Bible in such a fragmented way, we ignore its divine author’s intention to shape our lives through its story.”

Yesterday, we were cautioned against reading only parts of the Bible we know and like. Today we raise the caution level to “full-on danger.” We see what commonly happens when we read the Bible in little bits: we (wrongly) make the Bible about ourselves — in four common ways:

1. The Bible is not primarily about your knowledge: “Theology” is the study of God. While the Bible is theological, it is not primarily a theology book. Studies of anything are removed from the thing being studied, while the Bible means to draw us closer to God. Studies are also head-focused, but while the Bible informs our heads, it also ignites our hearts and inspires our hands. The Bible teaches us about God, but also does so much more.
2. The Bible is not primarily about your behavior: Morality tales tell us if we just do or stop doing something, life is better. “The Tortoise and the Hare” tells us not be lazy, Finding Nemo reminds us to “just keep swimming.” But we often can’t make the change we see in the Bible’s verses, commands, or stories. Reading the Bible to inspire behavior change leaves us feeling guilty and discouraged, and we either give up or “fake it”. Neither of these trails leads to happy endings; neither path is God’s heart for His people.
3. The Bible is not primarily about your inspiration: Many books exist under the category of “devotional.” These can be good, and the Bible does contain powerful verses and inspirational stories, but devotional readings of the Bible commonly focus on building ourselves up; we look to the Bible for inspiration, often some form of “you’re great; you can do it.” But that feeling doesn’t last long! While the Bible does speak to our hearts and hands, its message is not primarily an emotional boost to get us over some proverbial hump.
4. The Bible is not primarily about your obedience: Of course, the Bible does include God’s commands. Some of us try to obey them earnestly; sometimes our motivation is guilt or fear of God’s punishment; other times it’s rote and dry. Many of God’s commands simply seem impossible. And often, as with New Year’s resolutions, our resolve only lasts so long. God did not give us the Bible merely as a rule book!

The problem with each of these common “lenses” for reading the Bible (and others like them) is that they each make the Bible about ME! “I’m a better Christian because I know more about God." Or "I’m a better Christian because I do better for God." Or "I’m a better Christian because I feel better." Or "I’m a better Christian because I follow God’s rules better" (or "a worse Christian if I don’t or can’t").

Each of these approaches to the Bible focus on the words of the text but miss the true Word. Jesus is the very Word of God (John 1:1). He teaches the disciples on the road to Emmaus that the whole Bible is about HIM — it’s not about us! Jesus the embodiment of each truth in the Bible, the perfection that each imperfect hero of every Bible story points to, and the ultimate fulfillment of every command and promise. His gospel is the key to reading the Bible rightly. That’s what we’ll see tomorrow, but the question we end with today asks which of the lenses above best describes the way(s) you most commonly approach the Bible?

Questions:

1. Do you commonly read the Bible because you think it will help you know more do better, feel better, or obey more?
2. What is the danger of making the Bible about you not about Jesus?