Life is filled with things that occupy our time, everything from jobs, hobbies, school, shopping, movies, music, etc…, but when we look at the amount of time we spend on these things compared to how much time we spend seeking God, and working to become spiritually mature, the imbalance is astonishing
The Brutal Truth: Most Christians Struggle Just To Pick Up Their Bibles Regularly
In reading a variety of studies over the past week, they report only 25% – 39% of Christians in North America read their Bibles every day
Um, what?
That is completely mind boggling, as carving out a whopping ten or fifteen minutes a day to read the Bible is not exactly a Samson’esque accomplishment
I mean really, put this in perspective for a minute, miraculously finding fifteen minutes in a day to read the Bible might actually mean spending a few minutes less on Facebook, YouTube, parked in front of the TV, playing video games, going out a few minutes later than planned, etc…, but it holds far more value than a lifetime of any of these things, as they only serve to pleasantly occupy our time, but provide no benefit or growth–they only serve as “live in the moment”, pointless distractions
(Don’t even get me started on how fifteen minutes of Bible reading a day is hardly asking a lot given the amount of time we spend on meaningless things)
On the flip side, even if all of our time is spent on accomplishing things that produce tangible outputs like money, a better career, etc…, they are not worth sacrificing our relationship with God over
Matthew 16:24-27
If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done
The thing I have a hard time understanding, is how generations of Christians, young and old, can be so relaxed about reading their Bibles considering the value of what they contain
2 Timothy 3:14-17
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work
Hmm, let me think about this for a moment, Paul is speaking in really unclear terms here
To make sure I get this right, Paul is saying the Bible is able to make us “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus”, that all scripture is “God-breathed”, and “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”, so that we be “equipped for every good work”
Whaaat?
Well to be fair, I can see if someone was *not* interested in righteousness or being equipped for godly service, the Bible would not be so important
*crickets*
Also, the word “righteousness” used above in the Greek is the same that is used to describe the “righteousness from God, apart from law” that Jesus died to make possible
Here is a quote from a previous article:
http://www.godandstuff.com/?p=6434
(Worth reading if you have not already!)
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Romans 3:21-22
But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe
People misunderstand verses like this because the word “righteousness” does not mean we are automatically made righteous in God’s eyes, it means we have the ability to achieve God’s very righteousness directly from the guidance his spirit provides under the new covenant, as the old covenant was just a list of rules, but the “new” righteousness is God’s direct influence on our hearts revealing his will in our lives, ie: the real meaning of “grace”
For example, “righteousness” above means:
“The doctrine concerning the way in which man *may* attain a state approved of God, integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking, feeling, and acting”
(Note this is not a default condition)
No Christian suddenly became “righteous” overnight by attaining “correctness of thinking, feeling, and acting”, that is definitely a journey we are led on by “God’s divine influence on the heart”, ie: grace
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Based on this, we see that Paul is saying:
“The Bible contains information that will teach us how to achieve the level of righteousness that is available to us, as becoming righteous and thoroughly equipped for godly service is not an automatic process, even with God’s spirit influencing our hearts”
Whoa…
Stop and think about that, comparing what Paul is saying to what people teach from pulpits today, not exactly a seeker friendly message or one welcomed by lackadaisical Christians!
This means we actually have to read the Bible in order to understand God’s standards, rather than rely on what feels “right” to us as we progress through various stages of spiritual maturity, navigating our moral choices with personal subjectivity more often than not, especially as spiritually young or new Christians–trusting our “inner voice” is beyond dangerous, as it should always be measured against the Bible’s teachings
Christians Who Do Not Study The Bible Thoroughly Often Have The Most “Relaxed” Standards Of Conduct
Without being too generalizing, the majority of Christians I meet that have relaxed moral standards and/or ones that conform more to the standards of the world rather than God’s, are either new Christians or are in various states of spiritual immaturity–these are often Christians who have a very loose grasp of the Bible’s teachings
An example of this, are the vast amounts of Christians who rationalize their “soft” theological and/or moral standards by saying things like:
“Marrying a non-Christian is okay as long as they are a good person”
“Nudity does not bother me, otherwise I would not watch anything with it”
“Even though the lyrics are bad, I just ignore them because I like the music”
Personally, I wrestled with a large number of issues in arenas like these and more, but it was only because I did not understand God’s character enough to truly be empathetic to how he felt when we expose ourselves to things that make him upset
(Yes, God has feelings, imagine that!)
Even though we claim to love God, witness to others, and sing his praises in church/in the car/at home/etc…, if we do not truly reject the things of this world by viewing them as God does, we are not walking as we should–as aliens, who view the world as holding nothing appealing because we are looking forward to our reward of being united with God in heaven
Romans 12:9
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good
Jude 1:22-23
Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh
1 Peter 1:17
Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear
1 Corinthians 7:29-31
What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away
Matthew 19:29
And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life
1 John 2:5-6
This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did
Even further to this, apart from anything material, the enemy loves an opponent who thinks they know the Bible, one who thinks they are walking righteously–which is exactly where they want us, thinking we see, when we are more blind than before we became Christians
Ouch
An Funny Awful Example Of Someone Not Reading Their Bible
When I lived in Vancouver, BC, I knew a girl, I will call her Yang for the purpose of the story, who been a former soap opera star in Asia, she slipped into the party lifestyle, slept around, and became incredibly broken, but was overwhelmingly reborn in Christ when she accepted Jesus
Yang’s testimony was powerful, and showed the way God can change someone’s life in remarkable ways, as she said the greatest thing she understood after becoming a Christian was that the draw in that lifestyle was her desire to feel cared for, loved, and valuable, but she was seeking it from the wrong sources
One day at a church barbecue, I saw her standing there, so I came up and said hi, and the first thing out of her mouth was:
“I am on a fast, I am not eating meat!”
As that is not usually the first thing out of someone’s mouth, I was a little taken back and asked to know more, here is the rest of the dialog:
“What are you fasting for?”
“I am fasting until God provides me a husband, and miracle working powers”
“…how often do you read your Bible”
“Uh, not very often”
Even though Yang’s life had been transformed on the outside, her heart had not been fully healed, which is normal as growing spiritually mature is not an overnight process especially when we have emotional baggage to deal with along the way, and it was obvious Yang was still seeking approval, validation, popularity, etc…, except now it was being sought in a more “acceptable” way within the Christian community, and, also, still from a man–just like she had sought after validation in relationships, and social acceptance, in her previous life
Basically, she had not learned to truly trust God by casting all of her consuming worries, and desires for validation on him, trusting he would heal her
1 Peter 5:7
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you
Of course, I was not judgmental, and I lovingly responded to Yang’s lack of Bible reading by telling her that miracles are to validate the gospel, not us, and if we are validating the gospel, we should have a thorough understanding of it so we can teach, and lead others to God based on a firm scriptural foundation, not focus on performing supernatural acts that will have people, most likely, regard us in some special way–surprisingly, not every Christian came to God because they witnessed a miracle beforehand!
When I said this she looked stunned, then she said she understood, and that she was wrong–not something everyone cares to admit, even when faced with the truth, God bless her
The sad thing was, prior to me throwing cold water on her, everyone had told Yang “Good job, that is awesome!”
Without Accurate Knowledge, We Do Not Know If Someone’s Theology Is Flaky Or Not, We Just Trust That Others Know What They Are Talking About
Unless this is your first time reading an article here (if so, welcome!), you are no doubt aware I enjoy openly disagreeing with flaky theological ideas, especially when those ideas hinge on cherry-picked scriptures taken out of context which are twisted to suit a point of view, demonstrate a fundamental misunderstanding of God’s character, and/or need to contradict numerous other passages in the Bible in order to be considered “true”
The joy, and I mean joy, I get out of debates around theology, is pursuing the truth with an open mind, knowing that unless we have a masterful grasp of the Word, it is often a very dangerous thing to say someone is incorrect in a theological context, let alone step forward and say we are right in the first place
Proverbs 18:17
The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him
Sadly, many people push the study of scripture off saying that not everyone is called to know a lot of theology, but according to Paul above, knowing the Bible is not *just* about being able to have theological conversations, it is about growing to maturity, and learning to attain God’s standard of righteousness–sometimes it is easier to ignore God’s guidance on our hearts than it is to ignore something written in black and white, but they are both extremely valuable in our maturing process
2 Timothy 2:15
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth
Hosea 4:6
…my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge
I have not read anywhere in the Bible where it discourages us from studying the Bible in favor of taking tidbits here and there when it is convenient, and guiding our lives according to moral standards we feel are acceptable based on whatever spiritual condition we happen to be in at the time
On the flip side of this, who wants to be lead astray because of something that “sounds” good, only because we did not do any research to prove it was right or wrong on our own–hands down, this is something Christians of all ages, and levels of spiritual maturity, are susceptible to
And to be clear, not every piece of false doctrine is the result of someone purposefully twisting scripture, these are often the result of someone with thoroughly noble intentions who either did not know the Bible well enough or did not research the Greek and Hebrew meanings of crucial words, and thus missed the entire point of the writer’s intent (blame the translators for this one as it happens a lot!)
Accurate Theology Often Represents Uncomfortable Levels Of Truth Many Christians Do Not Want To Live By
Simply put, the closer we get to God and study the Word, the more we understand his righteous character, and as we continue to mature, the greater his spirit within us yearns towards perfection, causing us to respond either by honoring God or by resisting, and giving ourselves over to the desires of our sinful nature–ignoring the very influence of God’s spirit on our hearts in preference for death
The sad part, is the limiting factor in our relationship with God is not him, it is us, and how much we love the world more than we love him
This is probably one of the most awful truths Christians never acknowledge, or come to realize, but then they wonder why they never hear from God or have their prayers answered expediently–because, in most cases, the relationship is a facade, based on spiritual immaturity, imagination, and a resistance to God’s guidance towards righteousness, not exactly a recipe for intimacy or the right to demand things with a sense of self-entitlement
Isaiah 65:2-3
All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations—a people who continually provoke me to my very face
Jeremiah 2:27
They have turned their backs to me and not their faces; yet when they are in trouble, they say, ‘Come and save us!’
2 Corinthians 6:1
As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain
(Remembering that “grace” in the Greek is defined as “God’s divine influence on the heart”, not “perpetual, unconditional forgiveness of sins”)
James 4:3
When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures
James 5:16
The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective
That first passage made me burst into tears, as even those who supposedly walk with God, still today do not turn to him like they should, and I cannot imagine God’s grief over our lack of love for him
This passage is made especially powerful when we see God was speaking to the Jews while they were under the old covenant, how much more does he grieve today when we ignore the “divine influence on our hearts” (ie: grace), he paid with his blood to give us–he must be heartbroken as he is whispering to our very hearts, and spirits, guiding us to be molded after his perfect character
Further to this, the reason Jesus died for us was not *just* to forgive our sins, it was so we could be empowered to live according to God’s own standard of righteousness, as taught and guided by his own spirit within us–made possible through a sacrifice he paid out of sincere love for us, so that we might make his love complete, by loving others, and him, in return
2 Corinthians 5:21
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God
(Paul is talking about our ability to supernaturally live up to God’s holy standard while on earth, isn’t that amazing!)
1 John 2:
But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did
1 John 4:12
No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us
John 15:12
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you
Until we are loving one another as much as Jesus loves us, we have a lot of growth to do!
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