I have, since childhood, asked too many questions. I always have and always will, but these questions have slowly but surely lead me down a path that have opened doors that I either was not expecting or did not want opened. One thing for sure is that within this short period of life I have lived, I have discovered, realized, or have been bluntly struck with truths. I suppose that these truths have much to offer me if I direct them in the right path, but as Solomon said, “The more knowledge, the more grief.”
Oh, how true are those words. To be a pastor or a teacher and understand so much of what God has to say. As James 4:17 says,” Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” I say pastors and teachers, but any man or woman that dedicates their life to understanding God as he reveals Himself to us in His Holy Word will struggle with this promise of Solomon.
Though, I have found that my questions have allowed me a perspective on things that gives the Word of God a fresh and new appeal. There are those who read and understand the Bible as they have been taught or as tradition has spelled out. They accept what they have heard and leave any doubt at the door. While I admire these for their faith, I can’t help but cringe at the thought of some man telling me what the truth is. This has driven my questions. Is what I am being told the truth?
God has given us a powerful thing in the Bible. But His hands did not give this book to the priests. He did not give this book to a sole group who were the only ones to be able to understand. No, he gave the Bible to everyman. He gave it to you, and He gave it to me. Why? So that no one would ever be able to tell us what to believe; fore that is God’s job alone. Yes, the Bible was penned by man, but the blind faith that I carry is that which allows me to see it as His book for us, right now.
The day I lay down my Bible and allow someone else to tell me the truth is the day truth dies for me. In this, I sound a battle cry for all the theologians in the world. Those who are the giants of the faith and those who are of the tiniest speck need to say we will not let go of our Bibles and we will not be a part of taking them away. Because those of us who have the privilege of wielding the most powerful thing in the world have great influence on those we teach.
Yes, we have a duty; a responsibility to encourage our sheep, friends, and family to pick up their Bibles and read them anew. God’s word is not done. It has not been read enough. Its truths are not all written down and understood. Wisdom, truth, directions, and wonder still flow from its pages. We must pick our battles and this is one of them.
We, as preachers and teachers of the Word need to be, ourselves, re-reading the Bible again from the perspective of one who has never read it before. If at all you fear that you have interpreted God’s Word in the manner in which you were instructed by man, you should wash your mind of what you have been told and reassess where you stand. Does this mean we throw out decades of study? Yes and no. We do not throw any of the wisdom of men who have proven themselves, but we do not take their words as truth. Their words as well as ours must be proven.
As Thomas insisted on thrusting his hands into Christ’s wounds before he proclaimed it as truth, we must insist on thrusting our minds and hearts into the Bible to understand what it says before we proclaim it as truth. No man is fit to preach or teach if all he does is regurgitate information and doctrine which he has heard or been taught. We are given the blessing of making sure there is no doubt, but surety in God’s Word.