Why should I listen to Teachers when they could be wrong?

Yesterday, I asked the question ‘Why should I read the Bible myself?’. In it I posed some very positive reasons why we should – and I still fully support those. But taken too far, you may start to think that you can interpret it all yourself, and that other sources of input are therefore useless or unnecessary.

I will start with the answer – they are not useless, but valuable!

I can honestly say in my experience, that both personal reading and interacting with others, as well as submitting to teaching from trusted sources is extremely valuable. And lest I look like degrading the value of the knowledge and learning of those that spend years in seminary –  what they have learned can be very valuable indeed, and help us in our growth – as that is what they are called to do – help us! Here are just a few of the advantages to submitting to the teaching and guidance of others (with the caveat that you also need to be looking yourself!)

Teachers (elders, preachers, pastors, etc) can help us to understand hard to read passages in the Bible. No one will deny that there are challenging passages in the Bible, a little help now and again from those that commit their lives to study is a good thing.

Teachers can help us see things that we wouldn’t see otherwise, because they have spent the time to learn much of the context of the Bible. See my example below.

Having other people input into our lives stops us from stagnating in one area, and can challenge us in areas we may avoid ourselves.

Proverbs 1:2–7 (ESV) (Bold mine)

To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth—
Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.

So, in conjunction with reading the Bible yourself, you should also be submitting yourself to someones teaching! I personally search out teaching regularly, as I want to know more about God, more about the Bible, more about Jesus. It is just how God has made me – as a seeker for more.

Let me give you a direct example.

Yesterday, I learned from someone that Philippi was a Roman Colony – which means that many of the people in the church there would have been Roman Citizens. Privileged people living in a society which respected them. I had never realized this, and so now the call to live humbly in Philippians 2 is much more pronounced, radical and revolutionary even! I may have never learned this without this particular teacher, and so despite all my personal study, teaching is still extremely valuable.

So I stand by yesterdays call – Ad Fontes! – but also find good sources of teaching, and learn from them. And then you will truly grow in the knowledge and truth.

Why should I read the Bible myself?

Here is a tough question for you today.

Why should I read the Bible myself?

On the ‘I shouldn’t’ side, come a large number of persuasive arguments. I’m not trained. I don’t fully understand. I didn’t go to seminary to learn. How can I hope to get it right when even the experts sometimes disagree? Isn’t that why the pastor preaches every week – to teach us what we cannot learn ourselves?

Many of these arguments rely on a misconception – that you cannot learn anything about the Bible yourself, but you need to rely on someone else to teach you. And much of this comes from the church in the Middle Ages who decreed that the Bible can only be interpreted by the church – ie, by the ‘ordained clergy’. There is a pinch of wisdom here (just a pinch) – it is easy for one person to go off track and start teaching strange doctrines by completely misinterpreting the Bible. But the response of the middle ages church was wrong and extreme – to ban common language access to the scriptures for fear that someone might interpret it in their own way (and quite possibly to ensure that they held onto the ‘power’ that went along with being the sole interpreter of the scriptures – but that is a discussion for another day).

What I want to say today is this. You can read the Bible yourself, and learn from it. And more than that, you – you personally – need to.

2 Peter 2:1–3 (ESV)
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

Let me ask you a question – how do you know if someone is preaching truth or lies? How do you know if someone is teaching about God – or bringing in destructive heresies for their own greed? It is not always as easy as ‘looking at their lives’. We cannot always easily discern, on our own, what is good teaching and what is not.

But there is a way to know.

You need to read the Bible yourself. Not just a little bit here and there, but regular reading and thought. Then when someone brings a ‘new’ teaching – you can see for yourself whether it is truth or heresy. I know in my life I have heard some pretty strange doctrines, and sometimes even been ‘taken’ by these doctrines for a time until I understood and learned better.

During the reformation – when the protestant church was formed, there was a call – ‘Ad Fontes’. It literally means ‘Back to the Sources’. The call was for people not to just rely on the teaching of the official church, agreeing instantly with whatever it said no matter how good or bad it sounded. Instead the call was for everyone – trained and untrained alike – to go back to the sources, back to the Bible, and see what it really said; see what it really meant. And when people like Martin Luther and the Anabaptists did that 400 years ago, it started the process of the reformation, where people started really looking into the teaching of the Bible and seeing what was really true – what was really right.

So how do you protect yourself? How do you personally grow in your Christianity? Ad Fontes! Don’t just trust in the teaching of everyone who will preach at you, from the pulpit, TV or internet (me included), but go back to the sources yourself and see what is really right, what really honors God, and what really preaches Jesus as He should be preached.

(A small final word of warning – don’t start thinking everyone is wrong! There are many good teachers in the world, many good pastors, many people with a good honest heart who themselves ‘study to be approved’ before God, and teach you the same – there really are people you can trust. As you read and grow yourself, you will gain more and more wisdom to understand what is right and what is not – don’t read a single passage and immediately go and proclaim a new doctrine, but study and grow in wisdom first, and seek God before jumping to conclusions!)

Read your Bible! Ad Fontes!

Colossians 1:9-10 (ESV)
And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

I Shall Not Want – a Christmas Message?

I noticed a really interesting trend on my blog over the last few days – I am always interested in what people are searching for, what people want to know about. In the last few days most of the people visiting searched for this -

I shall not want

Typically then, they end up at the Bible study I did on Psalm 23:1 earlier this year.

But could that be a Christmas message? I guess it isn’t directly related to the birth of Jesus. I guess if you stretch the analogy, Jesus being laid in a manger could link to the Lord is my Shepherd – but I think that is doing a lot of stretching…

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

What a great theme for Christmas! Jesus, our Lord, is the one who guides us. He is the one who directs us, who cares for us, who protects us. He is the one who leads us to where we can do what we are called to do. So what is left for us?

I shall not want.

I am not going to covet the biggest present, or whatever those around me got, or everything i see in the latest catalog. I am not going to focus on myself this Christmas – on what I want to get, on being first at the table to get the best part of the meal, on getting the most presents, on being the focus of attention. Instead, I can proclaim ‘The Lord, who condescended to become a man when He was born in a manger of the Virgin Mary, and who lived and died for my sins on a cross, only to rise again, is my shepherd. I certainly shall not want!’

What a great theme this Christmas!

A Tear in the Fabric – Christmas 2012

As we come to celebrate Christmas, what does it mean that Jesus was born into this world? I’m not looking at less significant arguments about the date and origin of December 25 – but what does it really mean that Jesus was born in this world?

To me, it seems that from the moment Jesus was conceived, the fabric of life – the way we thought we knew life and death to be – was torn, ripped up and set aside. The old way had passed – a new way has been set in front of us. We celebrate that in many ways, but often miss the significance – on the day Jesus was conceived, the world was irrevocably changed.

Apart from the very first 2 people on this earth, everyone has been conceived and born in essentially the same way. Until Jesus – born of a virgin.

Apart from 2 people(Enoch, Elijah), everyone’s life at some point came to an end. If you say that their life on this earth came to an end, then it applies to them all. Until Jesus.

When I think about it, this visual comes to mind.

Mark 15:33–39 (ESV)
And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

“And the curtain of the temple was torn in two”

No longer did sin have to be atoned for by the blood of sheep and goats. No longer did a high priest have to cleanse himself, and then go once a year only into the Holy of Holies to offer sacrifices for the sins of all of the people. We now have a High Priest in Jesus, who paid the full penalty for our sins, that we might be right with the father.

But there is more. For not only was the law changed, not only our relationship with God changed, not only the cycle of life changed, but also death.

Mark 16:1–7 (ESV)
When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”

Jesus took death, and tore the fabric of life as we know it in two by being the first to rise from the dead. Jesus is alive, never to face death again, for He has conquered it!

That is such an utterly amazing thing to consider – that since Jesus, the world has never been the same. From conception, to His sinless life, to His death that paid for our sins, to His resurrection, everything about Jesus changed the world as we know it.

So how then are we living?

Do you live in light of the resurrection? Are you living as one who has not death to look forward to – but life eternal? For that is the core and substance of the Christian message. Your sins have been paid for, and you do not have death to look forward to – but life eternal. Life without sin, without fear, without pain, without suffering.

I sometimes really struggle with this concept. Our lives here on this earth seem so long – they seem so permanent. And yet – they are nothing in even in the history of people as a whole. I struggle sometimes to see the eternal aspect of my life – and to focus on what is important eternally, not this year, this month, this day, this hour! The apostle Paul has some great advice for us on that front.

Romans 8:18 (ESV)
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

What we face today is nothing compared to eternity.

So take a look at your life now – and ask yourself honestly – are you living in the light of the resurrection? Are you living as though this is not the only life we have to live, but just the life we have now before the resurrection comes for us too? What are you doing today that will have an effect for eternity?

Or do you live as if Jesus had never conquered death? Do you live as if this is your only life – lets eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die?

As we celebrate Christmas, remember the reason we celebrate the birth of a little baby. Because from the very conception of that baby – the baby Jesus – the fabric of our existence was torn in two – and changed for eternity.

Jesus is Real!

Just a small crazy thought for today.

Jesus is a historical figure – most historians agree (Christian or not) that there can be no doubt that Jesus lived when He did, and did the things He did, based not only on the Bible but other external testimony. Jesus is real. The fact that Jesus lived and died is as real as you and I.

The Old Testament (or Hebrew Scriptures), predicted many of the things about Jesus – His birth, his place of birth and where He grew up, many of the things that happened during His ministry – as well as His death.

So – Jesus life then confirms the accuracy of the prophecy in the Old Testament (by fulfilling that prophecy), and leads us to look forward to those parts which have not been yet fulfilled! History confirms Jesus existed, the Bible confirms who Jesus is, and Jesus in turn, by fulfilling the prophecy in the Bible, confirms the validity of it as the Word of God.

2 Peter 1:19–21 (HCSB)
So we have the prophetic word strongly confirmed. You will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dismal place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. First of all, you should know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

So next time you doubt – and you will (all of us do!), remember this – Jesus is real – and the Bible is true. Be encouraged! We all suffer from fear and doubt, we all fail, we all sin, we all fall short. But Jesus is there, just as it was prophesied He would be, to redeem us and set us free.

Now that is an encouraging thought for the day.