The Bible is the believers primary source of faith, however there is an approach to scripture that if used exclusively can actually cause you to doubt the reality of God.
Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that HE exists …”
We have taught that if you would just “get in the word” you would have strong faith. We have taught, if you would just get into a Bible believing church and attend the weekend services you would have strong faith. And C. S. Lewis’ famous quote on the importance of our faith makes it critical that we use the word of God to give us a rock solid foundation. Lewis said, “Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.” We usually blame that lack of a strong foundation to the faith on people not getting into the word enough, but I think the problem is the way we’re currently, “getting into the word.”
The way most modern Christians approach scripture is to put themselves in the story. For example, if we are going to talk about the story of David and Goliath, we will see ourselves as David and Goliath which will represent the insurmountable challenges that are keeping us from reaching our goals. If you are going to talk about Israel crossing the Red Sea, we are Moses trying to move our family or our organization away from danger and into destiny. Of course Pharoah and his minions in pursuit represent Satan who want to take us back into the bondage and slavery we have just escaped. If we talk about Jesus walking on stormy waters, we understand it to mean that Jesus walks on that which troubles us. SAY AMEN, SOMEBODY!!!
Not only is there nothing wrong with this way of approaching scripture, I recommend it. Looking to scripture to validate and find hope in your personal experiences is an important way to discover God. Every Christ follower has had the experience of going to the weekend service and the preacher read their mail through a great scripture text or Biblical story. In other words, the pastor describes what you’ve been going through that week, perhaps what you talked about on the way to church, or a prayer that you’ve been praying in his or her sermon. In these moments, you will be moved and you will conclude, there is a God and he really cares for me. What I just described has given me some of the greatest emotional highs in my life.
But wait a minute, if finding yourself in the story is the only way you relate to scripture or if the only teaching you listen to is about your needs, then you are going to only have a shallow faith. You are not going to have a faith that will withstand the storms of life if you don’t develop an approach to scripture that primarily validates the reality of God and His eternal plan for the world. The triune God is the primary hero in every story in scripture and the central figure in every text. I fear that modern Christians have been fawning way to much over a human kind centered Gospel, which may help explain the unhealthy Christian celebrity culture that at times seems to prevail.
Reality is, God’s glory is revealed in scripture, more than ours; that’s why we call it “the word of God.” Yes, I can see myself as David facing Goliath but for a far more powerful meaning is when shepherd David represents my Lord and shepherd Jesus Christ defeating the overwhelming dark forces that mock weak and fearful humans.
If you live long enough one of those Goliath’s won’t fall, a Red sea won’t part and Christ won’t show up on your stormy sea in the exact way you expected him too, but God is still prevailing. Eventually one of the storms of life will do you in and you’ll go to heaven but the grand narrative of God will march on after you exit stage left from your part in this great drama.
Understanding God through the scriptures also includes wrestling with the hard questions. The Christian community had an “oh no” moment this week when famous singer/songwriter Marty Sampsons announced he was losing his faith. In his, since removed Instagram post he stated, “Christianity is just another religion, How can God be love yet send four billion people to a place, all ‘coz they don’t believe? Why is the Bible full of contradictions? No one talks about it.” I don’t know Marty Sampson but it’s significant that in modern Christianity one can have a career in Christian ministry without having to wrestle with these basic objections to faith.
If we don’t dig deeper and learn the solid evidence that God’s big story is right on schedule, that testimonials to his truth are all around us and how the natural world declares his glory, we are going to be swamped by human experience. 1 Peter 1:23-25 sums it up nicely: “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, ‘All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.’ And this is the word that was preached to you.”
