A 10-Week Dads Teach the Bible workshop started up yesterday morning (details on that are under the event tab above). We asked the question, “What are some of the things that hinder men from engaging both in study of the Word on their own and then passing that on to their families and other men in their sphere of influence?” (Similar to the question posed in the second post on this blog, “The Challenge.”) We came up with quite a list. As I have thought through the things we talked about, it seems like most of the reasons can be filed under the heading “lack of confidence.” The gist of it was that there was a fear that one would get it wrong or that they would not be able to get anything out of the Word without help from someone.
That seems to miss the mark at, at least, two levels. First, right, we probably will not get it right, I will stipulate that. We are investigating an infinitely majestic God, whose nature and thought is far beyond our comprehension. The Christian life, the study of the Bible, is a lifelong gaze at Him through the lens of what He has revealed of Himself in the Word. The more we study the more we will learn. Some of that learning will be that we got some things wrong the first time through. But the continuous progress is toward the truth.
Second, lack of confidence seems to be discounting what Christ promised in John 16:13. Christ promised that we would receive the Holy Spirit and that He would lead us into all truth. So it seems that if we have the Holy Spirit and we have the Word of God, the Spirit will instruct us through that Word into not only a better understanding of the Word but also God.
There is at least one other thought on this, which we will pick up tomorrow…
Boy, what a great question, Why do some not engage deeply with the Bible? And at every level. Remember trying to recruit to Bible studies in dorms? on military bases and ships? in Sunday Schools? Do they ever try engaging and not get the same return that you and I do? Or have they never engaged deeply? Answers:
ReplyDelete1. Ignorance 2. previous bad experience. I tried, but nothing happened 3. Life not painful enough -- they can muddle on, as is. 4. Anger at God -- why move toward him? 5. Anesthetizing effect of watching TV instead of studying. 6. Takes seminary trainig to get the good stuff.