Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. - Psalm 119:105

Bible Study Articles

Why Study the Bible? Part II

By Dr. Richard J. Krejcir
Do you realize that if you are a Christian and have read the entire Bible you are in the minority! Does this scare you?

Well it should!
Do you realize that if you are a Christian and have read the entire Bible you are in the minority! Does this scare you?

 

Well it should! If you study the Bible yourself you are in an even further minority that most pastors do not even fall in to! Yet all of them would have an opinion of the Bible, teach and make decisions based on their understanding of the Bible. If you were not scared before you should be now! Do you realize that most seminaries are turning out pastors who are Biblically illiterate! They may at best have taken just a couple classes in Bible if any at all. I took all of the Bible courses that were offered when I was in seminary, but I felt poorly prepared. Fortunately I undertook the study of His Word myself. I was fortunate to go to a good seminary, Fuller in Pasadena, that gave me a good foundation and the tools to be a good exegete (how to study the Bible), but they did not teach me all that was in it. It was up to me to take the tools that I had learned and apply them so I can be a good exegete. But many pastors are going into their pulpits ignorant not knowing the tools or not using those tools.

  


This is why a lot of pastors are not leading Bible studies in our churches, and why so few churches even have a Bible study. In one church I served they was only one adult Bible study; an ex-missionary led it. Everyone else felt they were too old and busy to lead one. A Godly woman who was 100 years old led the one and only Bible study at that church! She was a true saint and committed to Christ as Lord, the rest of the church did not get it! It is sad that a lot of pastors feel that they are not able to lead Bible studies, and even discourage others from doing so too, that they may be 'shown up'! Now you should be terrified!


  


I recently was on a committee to examine seminary grads seeking ordination 'preparation for ordination exam'. I saw several seminary graduates unable to answer simple Sunday school questions. I had High School students in the inner city that would blow them away (in Bible knowledge). So many pastors are attending seminary but then are leaving ill prepared to teach His most precious Word. Now you should be hiding under the bed! I knew one pastor who lived in mortal fear of teaching the Bible! He felt that he was a fraud; his sermons came from a magazine and he concentrated on counseling (which he was good at). It took a lot of arm-twisting to get him to learn the Bible. He was embarrassed that people would find him out. Now the Pastors overseas we are reaching have the same problem with a lack of Bible knowledge. But their reason is that they do not have seminaries or those great resources that we have!


  


Do not get me wrong, I'm not seminary or even pastor bashing, I'm pointing out a critical problem in a lot of our churches today. They create 'pew-sitters' who go to church in name only, but do nothing with their faith, and even refuse to learn and grow in the Word. This is a problem in our leadership, and a problem in the pew where the people do not want to follow a good leader. They allow pride and laziness get in the way of knowing His Word. This effects every decision and action that the church faces and makes.


 


The Bible has been debated much and read little over the centuries. All kinds of theology have been excavated from its pages. Great nuggets of inspiration have been found in the precepts of its truth, while other schemes, falsehoods and crazy doctrines have been cleverly placed where they do not belong. The quest for grandstanding and sensationalism to gather as many followers as possible has clouded the pulpit and airways from the truth. Where truth once reigned, comes confusion and spurious doctrines. Yes people follow the personalities and charisma of its leaders, but where is the truth, where is the Word, where is the discipleship?


  


On the positive side we have seen the rising interest in home bible studies since the early 70's, which for some strange reason were a rarity in the U.S. beforehand. We have seen dozens of new translations, Bible helps, resources and even software that cuts research time to a mere fraction of time as before. There are more ministries (including Into Thy Word) that are teaching and distributing His precious Word more than ever before in history. On the dark side, in the same time more and more people are going astray from His Word than ever before.


  


So what has happened? We have the same Spirit, the same Word, more and greater resources, more translations, more ministries, and more Bible studies than ever before. Yet more churches close their doors every year, and people are leaving the church. At the same time more false doctrines are spreading and taking over the truth more than ever before too. So we have more resources, more Bible studies compared to less churches and more false doctrine, this does not make sense. Or does it? To the committed disciple and Bible lover this is extremely frustrating. I sometimes even wonder if it is worth the time and effort to teach truth when false teaching is so enticing and claiming so many.


  


So why? How do two contradictory events make sense? When something good of God begins to work, Satan and our evil fallen nature will synergistically combine to thwart it. We may not sit down in a dark smoke filled room in the back of a bar to hedge a deal with a guy in a red suit smelling of brimstone, but nevertheless the result are the same. Satan puts out all the stops, and we seek to glorify ourselves and try to get into the action, even if we have to make stuff up to get our piece. This too synergistically combines with the lack of solid Bible leaders and Bible knowledge to produce a weak church ripe for false teachings and political power plays (I can only guess that all those great resources just look good on the shelf, when they need to be put in action.). This all combines together resulting with thousands of people each year leaving the church hurt, confused and disillusioned.


  


So when all the home Bible studies and resources were spreading, Satan was and is there in force with his entourage (Demons) to manipulate the results. And many leaders were there too, arguing, spreading confusion, backstabbing, and engaging in their own manipulation. The home Bible study and the expository preaching from the pulpit are to teach the truth of God's most precious Word. And this has been happening, as many great churches have sprung up while others rekindled their call. In the most part the home Bible studies have been essential, and must build and continue. But we need to be aware that at the same time of growing Bible studies, human fallen thinking is walking hand in hand with Satan to spoil the work of our Lord. Personal political agendas and power quested individuals are entering in the Bible study and pulpit with a self-purpose mentality to take the spotlight away from God in most of His churches. How many sermons have had the pastor's experience and stories as their central focus, how many Bible studies have been led by leaders with their own agenda? As I travel around and speak and teach in churches, I'm astounded to the degree of self-worship that is in the church. And the lack of Christ's shed blood being lifted up and preached. We have to not only continue home Bible studies, but also we must reform them, train the leaders and infuse a passion for the truth of His Word. So the focus is growth and discipleship, not personalities, personal agendas, or even programs.


  


I have to confess, I too have struggled with this, I was very arrogant and condescending in my early pastoral days. In the opposite since of Biblical ignorance, I overpowered people with the Word. I figured since I was so much smarter and educated I had all the answers. I would engage in conversations with my rhetoric skill, while my ears took a break. Maybe I had good answers, but I was not listening, or being encouraging to people. And when I taught my teaching came across as patronizing. I even swooped in to take over Bible studies that were defective instead of discipling those in the lead already. I may have even crushed hearts and calls when I was supposed to lift up, and glorify Christ. I would speak so high and above peoples heads no one understood what I was saying. God had to swat me a few times before I got it right. I had to learn it is about Christ and not about me. It is His Word, and I'm His servant.


  


The result of our political games and lifting of ourselves instead of the Lord has created an enigma in place of the Word. In the early days of Billy Graham's ministry all he had to do was say, "the Bible says…" and people had a general grasp of its contents and that it was indeed His Word. Today when Billy Graham say "the Bible says.." most people will wonder what Bible, what's in it, whose opinion, and whose interpretation. Has Billy changed his message? No. Has the Bible changed? No. What has happened is we have created the enigma of argument in place of a solid comforting foundation of truth as it is. No longer does the Bible present a unified identity. It is a document of conflicting and changing meanings to the non-Christian. It no longer makes sense, or is a piece of clay that can be sculptured to our own image and needs.


  


This not only hurts our outreach endeavors but the church as well! Because even though we have all these wonderful ministries and resources, very few people are actually reading the Bible and using those resources, especially the leaders in the church! As a former church growth consultant I was amazed at the lack of basic Bible understanding when I conducted leadership retreats and had church leaders develop vision and direction from God's Word. Many could not find the books of the Bible nor had a basic understanding of the theological principles of the denomination that they were representing. That is why you have people in denominational conventions promoting crazy stuff such as homosexuality and re-imaging God, because they do not know better. They infuse their agenda over God's. The church has forgotten to train and disciple its people, so they can know Him better, and be poured out to Him (Gal. 2:20: Phil.1:6; 3:10).


  


While in seminary I worked as a trainer in a bank; one of the things I did was train tellers how to detect counterfeit money. I had them feel $100 bills with their eyes closed to get to know the real one. Then I gave them sample counterfeits and just by the feel they were able to quickly detect phony $100 bills. We also had elaborate displays of various counterfeits from the Treasury Department and all kinds of things to memorize, electronic gadgets and ways to detect the counterfeit bills. But I found if you spend the time to know the real one, the fakes are easily spotted. The gadgets were not necessary. As Christians we must be willing and able to stop the phony teaching and the apathy that is rampant in our churches. And the way we can do this is by knowing the real One, and spreading the real message.


  


If the leaders are not grounded Biblically then we are in trouble. Because they are making decisions based on human reasoning and not God's for God's house! This scares me. I sat through many, many committee and council meetings over the years and listened to some of the most foolish discussions and circles of rhetoric with nothing getting done for Him. These same elders had no devotional life, did not they know the Word, and I would guess did not care. Their position was political as who they were in society and not who they were in Christ. So the decisions they made seriously hampered the church. It amazes me how this goes on and on; I guess people just do not get it, blinded by their arrogance and Satan's influence.


 


I already addressed the common objections of why people do not study the Bible last month, now we need to find the ground so people can get what is in the Bible. So we can avoid the counterfeit and know the real One. We have to end the apathy, arrogance, confusion and falsehoods coming out of the church. We have to stop our self-grandstanding and keep the message of preaching Christ crucified, because it is about Him not us. We are the recipients of His truth and grace. We are not the message nor are we the opinion. We are the means in which He chooses to work. We have to give away our self-motivations and leave them at the foot of the Cross.


  


           Because the WHY of studying the Bible is to bring our mindsets in line with His truth. We cannot do that when we refuse to yield ourselves to our Lord. We cannot do that when pride and arrogance are piloting the helm, or apathy running the bridge. Remember He is Lord not co-pilot, or vice president, or divine bellhop. He is God and Creator and King of the universe who loves you and desires the best for all of us. Thus, when we yield ourselves to His precepts, then we are giving Him glory and that is the primary fruit from studying the Bible. 


 


So why should we study the Bible?  


 


       We must study the Bible because it is the foundation for life. God even commands us to study His Word as the priority before we do anything else (Deut. 6: 6-9).


  


·     Because we are to love Him (Deut. 6:4-5).


 


·     Because He demands we teach others the Word (II Tim. 3:14-17).  


 


·     Because we are to fear, trust, understand and respect Him (Prov. 1:7; 3:5: 9:10) 


 


·     As a Christian, we need to live a life of distinction, and the only way to receive the knowledge of that distinction is to get into the Word! 


 


·     We do not want to be "barcode" Christians who do not care what's in the box because only the label matters, or that Christianity is just "fire insurance" from hell! 


We must seek out the truth and answers that we need, from the final authority, and not the ways of the world! If not then we set up ourselves as the final judge and authority and not God, thus we will lead ourselves to hell from false truths and distractions.  


·     The point of Christianity is to be a transformed person, through self-surrender to our Lord's holiness through His Word and prayer! 


·     The Response of grace is to be a transformed person, through self-surrender to our Lord's holiness through His Word and prayer! 


REMEMBER:   THE BIBLE IS GOD'S LOVE LETTER TO YOU!!! 


§    We need to get into the Bible ourselves.  One of the problems of Christianity today is that we are conditioned to be taught from the Scriptures but not to do it for ourselves. 


§    The cults place their authority elsewhere, and not in the Word! 


The study of the Bible matters!  


Because it brings us in line with His Holiness, and with reality! Science may have explanations, but they change completely every few years, however the Word of God never changes, what a great comfort!  


Science can never explain love, justice, peace, goodness, purity, sin…because you cannot quantify it in a microscope or scientific instrument! "Why we do what we do", cannot be scientifically measured and hypothesized, that is why there are so many theories in science and psychology and they are always changing!  


§     The Bible is read much, but studied little!  


§     The truths of Scripture will transcend any other subject, discipline or passion!  


The Bible gives us a greater reality that cannot be seen but is clearly felt, and to deny it is like living in Huntington Beach in Southern California and never seeing the ocean!   


Yes indeed the study of the Bible does matter! So we do not become the counterfeiters to His truth!!!  


Into Thy Word Ministries     www.intothyword.com


Next is Part III: The Biblical basis for why we should read the Bible 


Read the Part I article Why Study the Bible?


Richard Joseph Krejcir, is the Director of 'Into Thy Word Ministries, 'a discipleing ministry. He is also a pastor, teacher, speaker is a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena California and has amounted nearly 20 years of pastoral ministry experience mostly in youth ministry, including serving as a church growth consultant.

 

 

Ó 1989, 2000, Rev.  R.J. Krejcir excerpt from the upcoming book 'With the Word' www.intothyword.com

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