The Bible is the strongest, toughest book ever to be placed between two covers. It has survived being attacked, maligned, and belittled by much of humanity throughout history.
But at the same time, Scripture is incredibly fragile and must be handled with the utmost of care. More damage can be done to the Bible in the life of a professing Christian who does not know Scripture than any dictator, atheist activist, or secular country could dream of. So how should Christians use Scripture with the care and gentleness is deserves?
Be careful in our approach
Don’t judge all my taste in movies based on this, but I enjoyed National Treasure when it came out. If you haven’t seen it, or (more likely) have forgotten about it, Nicholas Cage and Sean Bean compete to steal the Declaration of Independence because there is a treasure map on it. Yes, it is a ridiculous premise for a film, but it is fun to watch.
I always appreciated how Cage’s character viewed the Declaration. It was obvious in the way he approached it, prepared his home to examine it, and the care he took when touching it. It was precious to him.
The Christian’s approach to Scripture should be similar. Too often we come to the Bible as though it is a mere collection of wise sayings, a list of rules to keep, or a source of shame. It is treated as any other book on our shelf or coffee table.
Stop for a second to consider what the Bible actually is: the progressive revelation of the Creator of the universe and Redeemer of your soul. God, who spoke existence into being, wrote a book. That fact alone should bring a sense of awe to our souls. But to know He wrote that book so we could know Him and live lives pleasing to Him, should make us treasure it all the more.
If we could grasp this, and I say we intentionally, it would influence how we come to Scripture and how we pay attention while reading or hearing it taught. We would approach it as the priceless treasure it is.
Be careful in our interpretation
Everyone interprets the Bible, even those who have never opened its covers. That is why we have an entire series of articles dedicated to explaining passages used by culture outside of context. Unfortunately, Christians can more guilty of taking verses out of context than the culture that knows nothing about Scripture.
When we boil interpreting Scripture down to its absolute essence, we see a question of authority. If we interpret passages divorced from their scriptural, historical, literary, or theological context we are placing ourselves in authority over Scripture. We make Scripture say something it never intended and therefore tell God what He ought to have said, rather than listening to what He actually says.
However, when we interpret Scripture correctly, meaning that we take into account a passage's genre, place in the covenant, whether it is descriptive or prescriptive, and any other factors, we place Scripture in authority over our personal feelings. Suddenly, Scripture no longer says what we want, but we want what it says.
This discipline is especially helpful with difficult passages. If we are in authority over Scripture, we can pass over those verses by declaring them unimportant. But if we see them as the authoritative Word of God, we must study to understand them to the best of our ability. There are numerous tools and helps available for this, but I have found two of the best to be a cross-reference and concordance. Though neither is opened, their approach is certainly applied in John Piper’s Look at the Book video series, which is incredibly beneficial and will teach you how to correctly study and interpret Scripture.
Be careful in our application
This is where everything ends. If we have the right approach and interpretation but walk away without applying it, our carefulness was all for naught. It was meaningless. But being careful in our application must be seen on two fronts.
First, we must be careful to apply. Many great sermons have been forgotten by the time we fill our plates at the Sunday buffet. This is a tragedy. Anytime God’s Word is opened, whether in private or in a corporate gathering, we should leave changed.
In Scripture and the rest of human history, we see people meet with the living God. In every instance, the person leaves changed. I’m not saying every experience is analogous to Paul’s blinding light, or Spurgeon’s snowstorm conversion, but there should always be change. The change can be slight or major, but it will be real, lasting, and meaningful.
The second front is to be careful how we apply. It is easy for us to fall into the ditch of legalism. God can give us a conviction on something and we begin feeling as though everyone should share it. We may even go as far as questioning their salvation if they don’t.
Paul unpacks this in Romans 14:1-12. To take the principle of that passage and apply it to today, think of it like this: Marty feels a conviction that to be in debt is sin. Therefore, him getting a credit card and putting a new TV on it would be sin. However, if Mary, his sister who is also a believer, does not have that conviction, she has the freedom to use her credit cards. Of course, she should do so with wisdom.
But we must also be wary of the ditch of licentiousness in our own lives. While we do not have the right of forcing personal convictions onto others, we must place our emotions, actions, feelings, and very lives under the commands of Scripture. When the Bible says, “Be holy as I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16), we must take that command seriously. When Scripture says to be sexually pure (1 Corinthians 6:18, Psalm 119:37, Matthew 5:28, etc.), we must strive to live pure lives in a culture oversaturated with sex.
The Bible is certainly the toughest, most powerful book to even be penned. But without a careful approach, careful interpretation, and careful application, we will decimate it into a weak collection of meaningless words. While nothing we can do will diminish its objective power, it will certainly not be living and active in our lives (Hebrews 4:12).
