Sometimes people ask me how I know the Bible as well as I do. The short answer is that I’m a nerd. The kind of nerd who reads Bible commentaries for fun. When I was a kid I was a science nerd; now I’m a Bible nerd (and also still a science nerd). But if I’m being honest, I really don’t think I know the Bible all that well at all. Partly this is because I am a nerd. I’m constantly reading books by Bible scholars, all of whom know way more than I do. But I also find that the more time I spend in the Scriptures, the more I discover how much I don’t yet know.
How do you approach reading the Bible? Hold on, let’s back up for a second. Do you read the Bible? Or are you part of the majority of Christians who believe that they should regularly read the Bible but don’t actually do it? If that’s you, then I strongly recommend you pause here and go read my advice on getting started reading the Bible. Then come back.
The article I just referenced is mechanics. What I want to talk about here is attitude. What kind of attitude do we have as we approach reading God’s word. And not just reading, but also studying, meditation and memorization. As you probably guessed from the title of this article, the attitude I think we need is humility. But what exactly do I mean by that?
God’s Word is Infallible – But I’m Not
The first part of reading with humility is to recognize that my understanding of the Bible is not the Bible, even though my understanding of the Bible is the only thing that I can obey. Or teach to anyone else. God’s thoughts are not my thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9), even when I’m reading his word. One day we will know fully, but for now we only know in part (1 Corinthians 13:12).
This is not a flaw; it’s simply the way the world, at present works. God knew when he inspired Scripture that it would be obeyed imperfectly (at best) by people who understood it imperfectly. And the Holy Spirit knows very well how to guide people who don’t fully understand what he is saying, “for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.” (Psalm 103:14). But it becomes a problem for me if I forget it.
We’ve all seen the bumper stickers: “God said it, I believe it, that settles it.” Now, we absolutely should believe everything that God says. In fact, just believing it isn’t enough; we need to obey it too. But God forbid that I ever flatter myself that everything is settled, or in other words, that I understand fully what he has said. There is always more for me to learn. 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” Notice how the verse starts: “Do your best.” There’s no thought here of perfection, but rather of constantly working to improve.
When a brother or sister in Christ reaches a different understanding of a particular passage of Scripture than I do, it’s natural for me to try to prove them wrong. But that’s not reading the Bible with humility; that’s just my wounded pride After all, if I believe the Holy Spirit can guide me, despite my imperfections, I have to believe that he can guide my brothers and sisters as well. A much better response, then, is to try to prove them right. Even if I’m not fully able to do that, the result is likely to be a better understanding of what that passage is saying. And as a side benefit, that attitude is less likely to result in hard feelings.
Proverbs 11:14 reads, “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” Our advisors in reading Scripture are not just a few wise friends, they’re also commentaries, study Bibles, Bible dictionaries, and a myriad of other helps. Reading with humility involves recognizing that I’m not the only person the Holy Spirit has ever spoken to through the Scriptures.
And we need to be aware, too, that there are some doctrines, such as the Trinity, and salvation by grace through faith, that are foundational to what it means to be a Christian at all. If your understanding of God’s word contradicts one of the historic creeds of the church, then either you weren’t guided to that interpretation by the Holy Spirit, or nobody else but you in the entire history of the church has been. I know which of those options I think is more likely.
Understand What the Bible is – and What it is Not.
The Bible is God’s revelation of himself to us. It is able to “make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:15), and written so that “you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:31). In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 we learn that, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Notice what it doesn’t say in these verses. It doesn’t say that the Scriptures were given to us to satisfy our curiosity. I have a long list of question, some trivial and some very deep, that the Bible doesn’t answer. Everything from who Cain was afraid of (Genesis 4:14) to why God has not healed my wife’s diabetes. Approaching the Bible with humility means accepting that I won’t always find the answers I’m looking for. I may, instead, discover that I’ve been asking the wrong questions.
The Bible is also not a collection of pithy sayings I can dig through to find one that “speaks” to me today. Nor is it a self-help book. What it is, is my Father’s words to me about himself. In other words, the Bible is not important in itself, but only for who it reveals. If what I read isn’t drawing me closer to him, and in the process making me more like Jesus, then I’m missing the point.
When I approach the Bible in these ways, looking for answers, or a verse of the day, or self-help advice, what I’m doing is asking God to bless my own agenda, instead of seeking his. Reading with humility means accepting that what I want to hear may not be what God wants to say.
Don’t trust in (my understanding of ) Scripture; trust in the God who inspired Scripture.
A few months ago I heard a prophecy teacher, I don’t remember who (which is probably for the best), say that if Israel, by which he meant the modern nation-state, were to be destroyed, he would have to give up his faith in Jesus. I pray that he’s not serious, or if he is, that God will reach him.
Our hope as God’s children is not in events taking place in the Middle East, it is in Christ; that just as he was raised from the dead, so we will also will be raised, and will live forever with him (Romans 8:11, 1 Corinthians 15:51-56 and many other Scriptures).
It’s foolish and dangerous to base your hope on prophecy being fulfilled in one way, rather than another, whether you reached that belief out of your own study or someone else’s. Or, for that matter, to base your hope on anything that scientists might find, or not find. Dangerous not just because of what could happen if you’re wrong, but also because, when you fail to distinguish between God’s word and your own understanding, you essentially declare yourself to be equal to God. That’s the exact opposite of reading with humility.
The bottom line in all this is that I don’t trust God because I believe the Bible. Rather, I believe the Bible because I trust God. My faith is not in a document, but in a person. Because I know the author, I can trust even the passages of Scripture that I don’t understand. And I can also trust the passages that appear, as I understand them, to be in conflict with archaeological or other evidence. Reading with humility means that I don’t have to have all the answers.
Don’t Make it About My Ego
Reading with humility also means I don’t take it personally when somebody I know tells me that they don’t accept the Bible. The feeling that I have to respond to every challenge isn’t the Holy Spirit, it’s my ego. But it’s not my job to respond to every attack on the Scriptures. Nor is it yours. God is smarter than both of us combined, and he’s been defending his own word since long before we were born. And that’s a good thing, because it’s almost impossible to defend the Bible to a nonbeliever without asserting my own opinion on at least some passages that are not necessarily interpreted the same way by all Christians.
Now, in writing this, I just know somebody is going to bring up 1 Peter 3:15-16. But let’s set aside, for the moment, any ideas we might have picked up in hanging around with other believers, and just look at what those verses actually say:
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. (1 Peter 3:15-16)
The first thing I notice in this passage is that it tells me to prepare to give an answer to “anyone who asks.” Not “anyone who spouts off.” Being more specific, I should be prepared to answer anyone who asks “the reason for the hope that you have.” That’s not a defense of the Bible, it’s justifying the hope that I, not Christians in general but I, personally, have. It’s my testimony. So if you really did come to Christ because you found evidence that the Bible is true, then that’s your answer to anyone who asks. But if that’s not how you came to faith in Jesus, then it’s not.
Finally, the last half of this passage indicates pretty clearly that what we should be concerned about is not defending the Scriptures, but seeing to it that no one has any legitimate grounds to criticize our behavior as Christians. Jesus expressed the same concern in Matthew 5:14-16. In other words, the best way to defend God’s word before non-Christians is to obey it. Ouch.
So, accept that God’s word is infallible, but I’m not. Understand what the Bible is, and what it isn’t. Trust in God rather than in my understanding of Scripture, and don’t make it about my ego. Those are what I consider the essentials for reading the Bible with humility. And always,
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it – not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it – they will be blessed in what they do. (James 1:22-25).