There are more observations, more lessons, but for now, this will be the last and perhaps the most important.
There is a danger in equipping people to more effectively observe the text of the Bible. It is subtle. One can become so engrossed in the process of observation that one misses the point of doing the observation.
The purpose of any engagement with the Word of God is ultimately to know the Lord, John 5:39 – 40 (here @ Bible Gateway). The purpose of equipping people to be more effective in making observations, enhancing the effectiveness of their Bible study, is not to give them more to say or share in their small group or Sunday school class. It is not to increase their ability to connect thoughts and topics in the Word of God – though that may be a side effect. No, if that is the outcome of equipping people to do more effective Bible study, the effort is an abject failure.
If when we ask what are the most important take aways from this study, and the answer is centered around the structure of the text or some interesting turn of the grammar or vocabulary, we need to reexamine how we are either asking the question or equipping the person.
What we should hear is a clearer understanding of one’s relationship with and grasp of the person of Christ. Or, a clearer understanding of how He desires to use the way He designed us in the building of His Kingdom.
When I hear a recitation of the structure of the text rather than a personal and heartfelt response to the result of that structure, I am saddened.
All of the methods we can learn, all of the questions with which we pepper the text, are ultimately tools for us to partake more richly in the divine nature that is revealed in the sumptuous feast that is the Word of God.
The purpose of any engagement with the Word of God is ultimately to know the Lord, John 5:39 – 40 (here @ Bible Gateway). The purpose of equipping people to be more effective in making observations, enhancing the effectiveness of their Bible study, is not to give them more to say or share in their small group or Sunday school class. It is not to increase their ability to connect thoughts and topics in the Word of God – though that may be a side effect. No, if that is the outcome of equipping people to do more effective Bible study, the effort is an abject failure.
If when we ask what are the most important take aways from this study, and the answer is centered around the structure of the text or some interesting turn of the grammar or vocabulary, we need to reexamine how we are either asking the question or equipping the person.
What we should hear is a clearer understanding of one’s relationship with and grasp of the person of Christ. Or, a clearer understanding of how He desires to use the way He designed us in the building of His Kingdom.
When I hear a recitation of the structure of the text rather than a personal and heartfelt response to the result of that structure, I am saddened.
All of the methods we can learn, all of the questions with which we pepper the text, are ultimately tools for us to partake more richly in the divine nature that is revealed in the sumptuous feast that is the Word of God.
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