How should we use the Bible?

I admit to using a cheap preachers' trick. The crucial word in that title is "should", which recalls a damaging presumption many evangelicals make about Bible reading. In a prayer meeting many years ago I found myself fervently confessing, "I have been an evangelical of the evangelicals!" I realised how similar my legalistic faith had become to the slavish religion of the Pharisees of old. Like them, we sometimes turn the delights of the gospel of grace into legal burdens, which diminish the joy of faith. The Bible contains a record of the most significant stages in the development of our faith, including stories of our Saviour's life. It is natural for those who love him to want to know more about him; but there is more than one way to learn. When we impose rules and expectations about bible reading as a daily routine we turn delight into duty. It is as if we were to tell a child "you MUST eat your ice cream". Worse than that, it is like telling that child that its ice cream eating must be done before breakfast in a quiet room in a spirit of reverence and without talking to anyone else. Some treat!

I read the Bible frequently, but not from a sense of obligation. It is a source of enlightenment that brings me new understanding each time I read through the book. My habit is to read consecutively and I have lost count of how many times its stories, poems, histories and teachings have passed under my eyes. It doesn't matter; nor does it matter that other Christians read it less often; or that they use different reading systems; or that they are less thoroughly engaged by the text. I love reading and consume books by the dozen, so it is natural that my spirituality is expressed in reading. Many people exceed me in praying, in practical acts of love and mercy and in ventures of faith. Their lives are not templates to judge my life against, nor are my habits a standard for them to live by.

The right reason to read the Bible is because we want to. If we fit bible reading into a scheme of law we abuse its message and act as if Jesus never died for us. Our new life in Christ is a product of grace and, if we reintroduce law, we will have missed God's point. "But what if people stop reading the Bible?" someone may ask. That is none of your business. Who made you a judge of other people's spirituality? And will you condemn those who don't have books, or can't read, or simply don't like reading? Is enthusiastic literacy a prerequisite of holiness?

Feedback I received since the first edition of SOS confirmed how great a stumbling block the Bible can be for many people. This problem is not the fault of the book, nor of the many authors whose writings it contains. The writers made their sincere contributions without knowing how they would be brought together and used in future ages. The book is neutral - a product of the printing press that cannot be held responsible for the way some people use it. When legalists and 'do-gooders' misuse the Bible it is they who must bear responsibility. Scripture is not meant to be a stumbling block, but a resting place, a support and an anchor.

I will yield, momentarily, to the 'should' in my title… The Bible should be used in love. It is appropriate to use the words of the Bible to bring comfort, encouragement, warning or instruction; but make sure that the motive is love rather than a lust for 'souls' to fill our meetings and membership lists. The one "new commandment" that Jesus set before us is "that you love one another as I have loved you." .

©Derrick Phillips
September 2001