Tonight we have a Bible study happening. 
I used to attend a large church (as you may already know). While attending, I was at various times, a leader, employee, intern, and congregant. The one thing I heard more than anything else was, “we never go deeper here” in regards to Bible study
Maybe it is because we did not have enough oxygen.
I remember hearing our pastor answer such complaints by pointing out the simple commands of Matthew 5 and 6 (loving God with everything in you and outside of you, and loving your neighbor as yourself) and how we failed to even get those down. While I agree, I think sometimes you have to challenge your people to see if they can go a little farther.
What does deeper mean?
Last week I handed out some information I compiled about the Apostle John and the first two chapters of his Gospel account. The idea was to give some background into the culture, the writing of the book, and how we can learn from the account. I think it was well received but I could not help but think how superficial this handout was. Don’t get me wrong, I am sure it helped. I am sure some people could identify better with John and his purpose for writing the Gospel.
For me it is hard to “go deeper” without going into the academics. What is the form, genre,or influences of culture behind the text? Who was John writing this for? You catch my drift. I think many people (myself included) get caught up in “going deeper” as some kind of scholarly exercise. How much information and how many cool new words can I pack into my brain? How much of this stuff will help me win debates with my neighbors and friends?
The Gospel is best understood as it is lived.
I believe the Gospel is Jesus Christ. He is the “good news.” The best way we can “go deeper” (there are a lot of quotation marks in this post…) is to live the way he asked us to live. If we love the Lord our God and our neighbors as ourselves, the deepness and fullness of the Gospel will take root. It will make sense. Academically learning about the Scriptures and Jesus is great, I am a huge fan nerd. If you come to our Bible study tonight (consider this an open invitation if you live near me) you will be challenged in the area of Biblical academia. I think this is only half of it. The other half has to be lived.
Then you will go deeper.
-Don-
P.S. The drawing winner for the book will be posted tomorrow! Stay tuned!
It’s a shame Kurt and I live 300 miles away.
Isn’t that basically what your old pastor (I’m thinking Dave Workman probably) was saying?
I find academically minded people like yourself to be interesting. You say that you find it hard to “go deeper” without going into academics. Personally, I find academicizing (not a real word, I know) the Bible… particularly the Gospels… to be a massive turn off. Maybe it’s because I’ve known so many academic-people who knew the Bible inside and out but completely missed the point. Maybe it’s because at one point in my life, I got so overwhelmed in Christian academics that I completely missed the point.
However, much like you have learned to not over-academicize your faith in spite of your academic leaning, I have had to learn to not reject it completely, in spite of my non-academic leaning. The simple fact is that it’s wrong to completely ignore the goldmine of theological tidbits like I am inclined to do… but one should also be careful not to let Christian academia become their walk with God, because they would run the risk of letting intellectualism replace their salvation.
I would have to agree with you here. We can live without getting into the biblical academics, but I think we would be missing out on far too much beauty. Now, each person learns at different levels, but at least we engage in the academics. How else are we to effectively give a reason for the hope that lies within us? Is it simply because of what God did for me? While this is certainly enough, it is subjective. It’s good to have at least a common knowledge of the Biblical accounts. Plus, it does help interpretation; that’s why God appoints pastors, for wisdom and understanding. Not all people are nerds like you! lol
Also, I think the academia helps us defend true Christian doctrine. This is a major plus.
- Jonathan J.
@Sister
Its actually only 200…
@Bryant
You are upping the intelligence level of this blog. Your comments are very insightful. Thanks for your contributions! I agree about the Christian academics. There is that fine line.
@Jonathan
You call me a nerd? Isnt that a “pot and kettle” case?
“You have said it yourself. . . .” (see here)
Sorry, I couldn’t help it
I’m sorry,
What?
Sorry, I guess I don’t make sense at times.
See, I have mixed feelings about the matter. On the one hand, I DO feel like sometimes I wish my church would “go deeper”. Whenever I’m given the opportunity to do so, it seems to wipe me out. I just…don’t want to do it. And I think that aversion comes from the fact that everytime I get involved with something, I end up being put into a leadership position. Even at other churches. And I’m tired of it! I don’t want to be a leader. So I will remain quiet and ignorant so I don’t keep getting put in front.
And Don, if its fine with you, I’m content to maintain my anonymity on your board.
From time to time, I find myself wishing that whatever church I’m at would “go deeper”. This usually happens when I’m doing an absolutely atrocious job of loving the Lord with all my heart, soul, and mind and loving my neighbor as myself. I imagine that my wish to “go deeper” is usually just a veiled attempt at trying to make up for my lack of action with intellectualism.
I feel God gave us big brains for a reason. Also, people tend to study that which interest them most. If you approach your faith as an academic endeavor, you will find it easier to speak about your faith with people who consider themselves academics. As quite a few (certainly not all) academics are agnostic atheist, or secularist, and you are called to spread the “Good News,” this can help you on the path you set out. It has long been my belief that people naturally become leaders because they have one of three possible superior qualities. They are either physically, mentally, or ethically superior to most. physically is the easiest to understand. It’s “survival of the fittest.” If I’m the baddest kid on the block, then I’m in charge. Mentally would speak to your academia, the intellectuals. Ethically would just be “living it.” I would view the ideal pastor as a person with mental and ethical toughness, and if he is physically tough as well, all the better. The world is full of challenges. I think people should strive for success in every arena they can. Wouldn’t success by a man of God glorify God?
MGEO,
I think you might have described Mark Driscoll… not sure…
2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
I think scripture reminds us that in order to live out the “basic” commands, it helps to know all of the Word. So in that sense, I do think pastors need to teach the “deeper things.” I think there comes a time when a pastor needs to trust the Holy Spirit with his flock… trust God’s Word and stop spoon-feeding people. (I’m not suggesting that the previously mentioned pastor did that… intentionally anyway.) The more you know about the entire Bible, the more God’s glory is evident… so let’s get the full picture of his glory so we can better reflect it!
@Jillyshelly
Fair enough. I totally agree with you. The good pastor/church should thoroughly cover the entire Bible and all its aspects. However, I’ve seen far too many pastors and churches hyperfocus on the little academic details. Every single time I’ve seen this happen, it spawns massive egos and ultimately becomes more about scholarly debate than living it out in the world. In fact, I would define intellectualism as intelligence + pride.
Of course, there’s absolutely nothing wrong (and I would encourage everyone to do it if they can keep their pride in check) with in-depth research in to the tiniest crevices of Scripture, as long as you’re applying that knowledge to your everyday life and using it to show the world the glory of God.