While walking through a sporting goods store, my son and I came across a Nike t-shirt that read: "If that's your 'A' game then you better get the rest of the alphabet!" While I find that shirt extremely funny when it comes to sports, it's a terrible way to approach the Christian life.
Pay attention to this quote: "The acceptable way of studying Scripture puts the power of revelation into the hands of anyone who can afford a Strong's Concordance and a few other miscellaneous study materials." The whole idea behind this approach is that if I simply put the time and effort into studying the Bible that I can learn some wonderful things. I'm not discounting a disciplined approach to studying God's Word. I'm also not discounting the use of the various study tools. The children of God should read and study the Bible. However, anything that I can get from the Word without God will not change my life. I must remain dependent upon the work of the Holy Spirit.
The Bible does so much more than just give us formulas for living. Certainly we can discover some principles that can be laid out (A-Z) but this approach simply makes the Bible a road map. The shirt I mentioned earlier states that the "A game" wasn't much so you need to get "B thru Z". Have you ever seen a Christian do the same? When "A" doesn't work we scramble for the rest of the alphabet. When a concept doesn't "pan out" we look for greater concepts. Pay attention to Hebrews 5:12, "For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joint and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." When we allow the Holy Spirit to be our guide through the Word of God then the words on the pages take on a different meaning - they actually come to life!
When we treat the Bible as a road map, we live as though we can find our way through our own understanding of His book. It's like living under the law. We get our list of boundaries rather than living in a relationship. But we are not under the law - we are under GRACE. Under GRACE we don't get a road map...we get a tour guide - the Holy Spirit. He directs, reveals, and empowers us to be and do what the Word says.
Remember that the Bible is the absolute Word of God. It reveals God in all His greatness but it does not contain Him. God is bigger than His book. The danger that comes through some styles of theology is trying to contain God within a system. What we believe becomes much more important than what God is saying and doing. If we live under this type of thinking we will actually reject what God wants to do now. Is God bigger than your belief system? Is God mightier than your understanding of His Word? Most of us would cry out "Yes!" But do we live that "Yes!"? Do we embrace that "Yes!"?
Personally, I only possess an Associates Degree in Religion and Church Ministries. However, under the continuing education of the Holy Spirit, my understanding of God and His Word has gone much further. While I'm a firm believer in learning all you can learn through organized education; there is so much more to learn through the work of God's Spirit. And it is through this type of education that we get far more than a degree - we are actually being transformed into the image of Christ!
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