EDITORIAL
In the Trenches | Eric Geiger
The first time I ever went surfing, the person who came along to help me get started looked me over and said, “The first thing you need to do is take off your wet suit. You put it on backward.”
I didn’t know that traditional wet suits zipped up the back. There was no jacket, no shirt, no sweatshirt that I ever owned in my life that I zipped up from the back. But now, after putting on a wetsuit many times, I know the right way is opposite from what I am used to. And the same holds true for reading the Bible: The right way is opposite of how we are used to reading other books.
When we read, we usually are looking for ourselves—information for ourselves, behaviors we can change about ourselves. But we must read the Bible looking for Christ. We must read the Bible the opposite way from how we read most other books.
According to recent data, more people in our culture are purchasing Bibles, and more people are showing a hunger for God’s Word—which is amazing. As pastors, we must help people see the true story of the Bible and not just read Bible stories. As theologian Edmund Clowney once emphasized, “It is possible to know Bible stories, yet miss the Bible story.”
The religious leaders during the days when Christ walked this earth knew Bible stories, but they missed the story of the Bible—that God had created them, was pursuing them though they were rebellious against him, and would enter this world to rescue them. They read the Scriptures looking for themselves, ways to make their lives better or distinct, ways for them to achieve God’s love and not receive it. Because they read the Scripture the wrong way, they missed Jesus.
Jesus told them, “You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, and yet they testify about me. But you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life” (John 5:40).
If we treat the Bible like an instruction manual, we will end up frustrated because we won’t be able to follow all the instructions. In fact, one of the reasons for all the commands is to help us realize that we can’t keep them in our own strength. We need a Savior who will keep them for us, and change our hearts so we can obey him.
If we read the Bible as a self-help book, we may find tips for a better marriage or a calmer mind, but the goal becomes self-improvement, not surrender. If we read the Bible like a biography, we might look for heroes to emulate, but we will find most are deeply flawed because the Bible is telling the story of one Hero—the Lamb without blemish or defect who came to redeem us.
Theologian J.I. Packer quipped, “Whatever else in the Bible catches your eye, do not let it distract you from him.” Let’s read the Bible looking for Jesus and help those we serve do the same.