On Bible Study

I was talking with a colleague yesterday about some of the issues in my last post…working for God not necessarily equaling intimacy with Christ. She talked about how her Theology studies had often seemed distant and experimental, and noticed that preparing a Bible study seemed like work.

• reading or finding the text
• checking other versions
• following cross-references
• researching commentaries
• researching cultural influences on the text
• researching back-stories on the characters
• boiling it town to teaching points
• preparing resources/handouts

She realized that this was a completely different activity than her daily reading, not nearly as fulfilling and exhaustingly academic. This got us wondering if we had the right idea. Where does scriptural insight come from? If Christ is the Word (see John 1), doesn’t he wish to speak to us? Won’t the Spirit lead us to truths through his word if we listen.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

Please don’t get me wrong, Commentaries aren’t dangerous. If I find a challenging passage, I’m the first to look up John Calvin or Matthew Henry’s thoughts on the topic or to look up the notes at the bottom. I’ve heard these stressed as non-scriptural notes, and I’ve heard a Study Bible called a “cheater Bible” joking that it alone has “All God’s answers in one book”. Where did the insights of the great quoted masters come from? We’re long past the days when we thought only the elite could talk to God. We just have to realize that if we were to read every commentary and volume ever written on John 3:16, the Spirit would poke us in the ribs and remind us that He still has words just for you left unsaid. He’s that deep and unsearchable.

Oh the Depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways. (Romans 11:33 NIV)

Can you discover the depths of God? Can you discover the limits of the Almighty? They are High as the Heavens, what can you do? Deeper than Sheol, what can you know. (Romans 11:33 NIV)

That second verse isn’t saying don’t bother looking for God…just dive in head first and don’t expect to hit the bottom.

I’m no expert in Bible study, I just know what works for me. I’m going to propose a few ideas I’ve found and heard and hope that some of you can add to in your comments. Also, I don’t offer this as a “method”, but as suggestions.

Pray

This one should be obvious, but sometimes we forget it. If you don’t believe me, read 1st Thessalonians 5:17 then James 1:22. Read them again, read it again….and this brings us to the next idea.

Re-read

Re-read the verse. Re-read the Chapter. Read it and stress different words. Read it with the clauses, and without the clauses. Read it out loud. Read it upside down (well, you get the idea). This is never time wasted.

Don’t Stop

If you come to the end of a chapter or story, don’t make the mistake of stopping cold. I learned recently that even the parables can be understood more deeply if you dare to keep reading. The chapter numbers and section titles were added much later for our convenience. Did you know that “cutting out a sinful eye and approaching people about accountability are in the same chapter. Why do we laugh off Matthew 18:9 as an exaggeration, yet try to follow 18:16 as a prescription.

Multiple Versions

English speakers have an unbelievable wealth of translations and study Bibles. There are Bibles with notes for women, golfers, students, pastors, maybe even Motorcycle repairmen (or is that Zen :). There are Bibles translated to extract the literal words from the Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. There are Bibles trying to recapture the poetic styles of the original languages. Each time you pick up a different translation, you’re reading God’s love letter to the world guided by the spirit and seen through the eyes and emphases of that translator.
This shouldn’t be a surprise that different versions speak more strongly to different people. Even the gospels were written to different audiences.

• Matthew was written with details specific for the Jews waiting for the Messaiah.
• Mark was written for the Romans, often containing information that was needed to explain Jewish customs.
• Luke was written as a detailed account to all people.
• John was written to the Gentiles, to us, so that we would know that Jesus was God.

Please understand, I’m not saying that you should give up your beloved KJV or NIV. I like both of those, and sometimes use them. I just ask you to open your eyes and dare to hear the words expressed differently.

When was the last time you were “shocked” by scripture?

Working with Bible translation, this is sort of a passion, so it might get a little long-winded. Food for thought: Here’s my experience with several Bible versions:

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Intimacy

Before the course I mentioned in the last post, I’d gotten quite stressed with all of the responsibilities weighing on me and taken a morning off to pray and re-prioritize. I found a little book on the shelf by Charles Swindoll called “Intimacy with the Almighty”, and that sounded like something I needed that morning. At the beginning of the second chapter, he whipped out Philippians 3:10 as translated in the Amplified Bible. Those of you that were in Israel may remember my reading of the Beatitudes from this translation, which truly sought to unlock the meaning of “Blessed” each time it was written. This is another masterpiece of translation.

[For my determined purpose is]
that I may know him–that I may progressively
become more deeply and intimately
acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing
and understanding [the wonders of His Person]
more strongly and more clearly.
And that I may in the same way come to
know the power outflowing from
His resurrection [the power it exerts over
believers]; and that I may share His
sufferings as to be continuously transformed
[in spirit into His likeness even]
to His death.

That’s it, that’s our duty to Him, and through this will His work be done. Swindoll quotes Thomas Kelley saying that God “never guides us to an intolerable scramble of panting feverishness.
Let’s read that again: God never guides us to an intolerable scramble of panting feverishness.

I’d wager that this describes not only missionaries and pastors, but most anyone reading these words. We get caught up in obligations to our boss, to our family, our congregation, and especially to our Saviour, and while we know that works aren’t getting us into heaven (we’ve already attained entry through faith and grace) we work ourselves thin as if it was.

Next chapter:

God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated. Ecclesiastes 7:29 (TEV)

I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his Craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3

I’ve always liked Luther’s idea “I’ve got so much to do today, I’d better spend 3 hours in prayer instead of 2.” This is the wonderful foolishness of Christ.
The world tells us that by working smarter and harder, that our labors will produce more fruit. In fact, working closer is what makes all the difference.

More encouragement:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

And here’s where a little repetition comes in handy.

Be still and know that I am God. (Ps. 46:10 NIV)

Cease striving and know that I am God. Stand silent! Know that I am God. (Ps. 46:10 TLB)

Let be and be still, and know–recognize and understand–that I am God. (Ps. 46:10 AMP)

“Give in,” he cries, “admit that I am God.” (Ps. 46:10 Moffat)

“Stop fighting,” he says, “and know that I am God.” (Ps. 46:10 TEV)

Step out of the traffic! Take a long loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything else. (Ps. 46:10 Message)

“Stop your fighting–and know that I am God, exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth.” (Ps. 46:10 HCSB)

Are you still yet?

Multi-Cultural Communication

Last week, a Cameroonian colleague came to me about a course that was being offered by the Training Department. This was to be a course in cross-cultural communication. I told her I wasn’t really interested, as I had so much on my plate already for the week. She asked me again, saying that it was only 2 hours a day for the rest of the week…and I remembered that the had invited me the last time this course came around. I began to realize that maybe she was making a point that I needed this course…so I succumbed to the peer pressure, and I’m glad I did.
The next day at 10:30, I was seated around a table with a balance of Cameroonians and expats, French-speaking and English speaking. This was a video lecture by Sherwood Lingenfelter, matched with case studies and discussion questions. We introduced ourselves to one another, I met colleagues from other missions that I’d only known their names.
We talked about group vs. individualistic cultures…the Americans and Dutch in the room represented strongly the individualistic and work-oriented culture:
A case study described a Chinese and European mission team. The European was focused strongly on the work that he’s traveled to do. Obviously, he thought that friendships between the missionaries would be formed through achieving their common goals together. The Chinese missionary found it hard to work closely with someone she barely even knew, seeing that productive work would come through friendship. Now, there was much more to this story about conflict resolution, but I want to stop here and focus on this.
The Cameroonians in the room represented a culture where the relationship was most important. I realized that often we get upset with our Cameroonian colleagues, as they have to take days or weeks off to visit “distant” family in the village, or spend days and all their money at other’s funerals and weddings. and the work has to wait. We have left our homes and extended families and friends far away for the task God has given us. Sacrificing and leaving that all behind to spread God’s word in Cameroon. It’s no wonder that we’ve gotten so focused on the task…that’s what we are, what we do. Now we’re trying to relate to a culture that can’t get away from their family for five minutes. This course brought us back…reminding us that the task, Bible translation, is for the people of Cameroon…and that God never wants his will to be done by stepping on people. Love is more effective than expertise any day in winning hearts for Christ.

Getting my Hands dirty…Part 2.

I just realized that I had signed up early for lunch (hamburgers) at the cafeteria yesterday…and I forgot about it.  I had been in a rush to get home to get some things back to Dan, so I was thinking about going home. There’s $5 down the drain. LOL.

Getting my hands dirty…

Today was a busy day, trying to balance Linguistic Technology and Field Security, but that’s not what I want to talk about.

Today was a day that I needed the bike to work.  As I arrived at the office, something near the back tire was lightly clicking.  I figured I just needed a little grease.  Something went way out of whack, and the derailer turned upside down, almost falling off.  On my lunch break, it took me nearly an hour to find the tools at the CAM shop that I needed, figure out what had happened, and put it back together in working fashion.  I’m still not sure how it got in that state.  My hands were covered with grease from palm to fingertips.  Thankfully, one of the employees was there to dig out the kerosene, or I would have spent an hour scrubbing with soap and water.  As It turned out, I had about 20 minutes to bike home and grab something to eat.

As I got home, I was remided that wireless signal has been weak on the other side of the house, so I decided I was tired of waiting for someone else to sort it out.  We don’t have a ladder, so I asked for Jim’s help and literally stood on his shoulders to access the attic panel.  I rerouted the existing cables, and waited for the family I share tha apartment with to come back home.  As soon as I could get into Jeremiah’s room, the wireless was finally centrally located enough that the whole house can use it.  It’s been way too long since I’ve crawled around in attic space…