Last month I posted a short video to Instagram. If you missed it, don’t worry; I’ll add it to the end of this post. At the beginning of that video, I mentioned –very briefly!– a few things I was “putting on the shelf” so that I could talk about the power of unbridled curiosity and the importance of questioning the Bible. (Yes, I said that, I meant it, and I will defend it.) Today we’re taking one thing off the shelf. Or maybe two.
How do we approach Bible study?
I have a few big beefs with the way most people study the Bible these days. Now, first, let me acknowledge my limited experience. I am an American Protestant raised in nondenominational communities. I cannot speak to the experiences of Christians in other nations, so when I say “most people” I mean most people impacted by Christian publishing and Evangelical paradigms.
The standard approach to Bible study (in my 40+ years’ experience in the Church) is to
- READ the Bible
- OBSERVE what you notice and read
- APPLY what you learn or understand
A lot of people add Pray to the end of the routine and remember it all as SOAP. There are a lot of easy-to-remember acronyms for Bible study methods, but they all follow the same basic formula built on one basic idea:
The Bible exists to help us.
That leads to heavy emphasis on personal application, and that can get tricky. Especially if you’re studying the Old Testament. Maybe that’s why so many Christians today DON’T study the Old Testament. I’ve had more than a few people tell me those books are “not practical” or “there’s nothing there for me.” It’s too bad, because dismissing the OT means you’ve just chopped 2/3 off your Bible.
Publishers of Bible studies identify “felt needs” then craft studies addressing them, promising to help people overcome whatever challenge they currently face. This ranges from overeating to parenting toddlers to becoming a more confident leader. It could be about forgiveness or finding peace; about marriage or sex or dating or even managing your money. You name it, there’s probably a study out there to tackle it.
Some resources are more subtle than others. Some are thoroughly unapologetic in their baptizing of self-help.
Is the Bible an instruction manual for life?
All my life people have told me the Bible is an instruction manual for life. Any problem you have, the Bible can answer. Just go to the Bible and you’ll find your solution.
But that’s not true.
The Bible can’t solve all my problems. It doesn’t always tell me what to do. It can tell me to love my neighbor, but it doesn’t tell me what that looks like if my neighbor is a jerk. (My neighbors are wonderful, by the way.) It can tell me I need to forgive, but it doesn’t tell me how to do that when the offending person continues to hurt me or my family. It doesn’t tell me where my kids should go to college or what job I should take or where we should live.
Instruction manuals are pretty specific. Detailed and instructive. Often with charts and diagrams. They serve one purpose for one thing.
The Bible is way bigger than an instruction manual.
Why might this approach to Bible study be backwards?
Believing the Bible exists to help us puts US at the center of our religion. Instead of focusing on God, we start with us and how he might meet our needs.
What is my problem? What do I feel I need? How can I feel better about myself and my future? How do I make my marriage better? Make that person love me more? What point do I want to prove? What should I do to overcome this trial or to succeed in business and life? How can I fix my kids or this situation or get that blessing or be better at whatever? How can I get God to work for me?
It’s all about ME. ME. ME. It makes ME the starting point. And that’s backwards.
NEWS FLASH: The Bible is not about us. It is for us, but not written to us nor about us. We are not characters in that Book.
Can we learn from the Bible? ABSOLUTELY!! In fact, we are expected to.
Can the Bible help us and guide us? Yes. Again, this is expected. Scripture encourages us to bring all our burdens to God, to cast our cares at his feet, to make our requests known.
But if we always approach God with OUR problems and OUR wants and OUR needs first… well, are we actually worshiping him or are we using him?
Sometimes we treat prayer like a birthday wish and God like the genie in a bottle. We work the formula of good behavior leads to gifts the same way we do Santa Claus. We negotiate and bargain the way we would with a seller at the flea market or an overpriced plumber.
So, yeah— That’s backwards! WE are not supposed to be the center of our devotion. God is.
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
— Matthew 6:33
When we approach the Bible, we should be asking: WHO IS God? What is he like and what has he done? How has he engaged with people throughout time? What is important to him? What does he want from those who serve him?
Naturally these questions will lead to application. We will see common threads of expectation and, if we desire to be in right standing with God, we will want to align ourselves to those expectations. But FIRST these questions should lead us to worship. To awe. To wonder. To celebration of HIM rather than a manipulative formula to use him for our own advancement and comfort.
Click here to read another post where I wrote a bit more about starting points.
Our role is secondary. Always. What benefits may come our way, that’s frosting. The cake, the meat, the purpose is to KNOW GOD. That’s the really good stuff! Everything else is bonus.
I’m going to drop that video here, but I’d love to hear from you. Leave me some thoughts and questions in the comments below.
Tanya Dennis Books 
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