I know a great photographer. My family has used her on a couple of different occasions, and she is simply the best. Everyone who sees her pictures absolutely loves them. I recommend her highly to everyone I know, and will use her for all of our photographic needs in the future. How much sense would it make though if I asked her to bring over all of her equipment to the house to help me with my most pressing need right now, a deck that desperately needs to be stained? No matter how superior her camera is, it won’t do much good on the deck. Also, it wouldn’t make sense, no matter how great she is with photography to expect her to be equally skilled at carpentry, fly fishing or chemical engineering.
It would be crazy to treat a photographer that way, but many of us have been taught that it’s ok to do that with the Bible.
The Bible is life giving. Every word it says is true. It informs our lives. It guides, inspires, and corrects. But, in the words of Reggie Joiner, “the Bible is all true, but not all truth is found in the Bible”. Yet we stretch the Bible to try to squeeze out answers that it simply does not contain. When we do that, we can begin to damage ourselves and others with the Bible. Here are three things we can all do to avoid damaging others with the Bible:
Allow The Bible To Remain Silent Where It Is Silent
Just because the Bible doesn’t tell us the year that the universe was created doesn’t mean that it’s less valuable. There is no reason to be afraid of what the Bible doesn’t include. God inspired the writing of the Bible to include what it includes. He has also inspired it to leave out what it leaves out. If He is ok with us not having all of the answers, then we can be ok with it too.
Quit Using The Bible As A Fact Finding Tool
The Bible wasn’t written to supply you with pithy answers to people who challenge you. It’s a bad idea to use the Bible to try to prove how wrong other people are. The Bible is a beautiful collection of stories, history, and poetry. It’s a story to be caught up in, not a tool to bludgeon others with. When we read the Bible with the primary goal of relating to God we will never be disappointed.
Quit Using The Bible To Try To Prove Your Point
When we go to the Bible to back up what we already believe we close our eyes to other things that God may be interested in showing us. The Bible is not a tool to prove how right you are. It’s an invitation by the God of the universe to open our hearts and minds and be changed. When we read the Bible we are entering into a relationship. In the same way that it’s not good to use someone for our own purposes, it’s bad to use the Bible simply to win arguments.