I remember meeting with someone who had begun attending our church. They wanted to know how tolerant our church was. Before I answered their question, I asked them one of my own. “If you became convinced that the Bible didn’t meet your definition of tolerance, would you throw out the Bible or your definition of tolerance?” My point wasn’t that the Bible is intolerant, but before I began the conversation, I needed to understand whether I was trying to defend the Bible or explain the Bible. Was the Bible the authority that helped them evaluate all their other beliefs, or was a certain view of tolerance the standard by which they would evaluate the Bible? After a long pause, they decided that if the Bible didn’t agree with their definition of tolerance, they would abandon a commitment to their definition of tolerance and accept the Bible’s. Sooner or later, everyone who reads the Bible needs to make a similar decision. Will we treat the Bible as a nice book, even one of our favourites? Or will we put it on the top shelf, in a class all by itself, with ultimate authority in our lives?
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In Paul’s letter to Timothy, he made the amazing claim that “all Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Timothy 3:16). The idea is that although the Bible is written by human authors, its message comes from God Himself. Because of that, to disregard the Bible is to disregard God. That’s why Paul makes the shocking statement in 2 Thessalonians 3:14, “If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed.” He’s saying that if someone claims to be a Christian but rejects the teachings of Scripture, they’re rejecting God and should be confronted with that reality. That’s also why God says, in Isaiah 66:2, “this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” The trembling that He’s talking is an expression of proper reverence for the Word of God. We read the Bible with an attitude as if we’re listening to God Himself. Jesus modelled this for us in His own life. When He faced the temptations of Satan, He responded each time with the words, “It is written,” and quoted Scripture (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10). The Bible’s teaching on a subject settled things for Him and should settle things for us. Despite that, there are many ‘books’ that people can put next to or on a higher shelf than the Bible. I’ll list a few of the most common ones.
1. Popular consensus. Some people assume that because the Bible is old, its teachings are necessarily outdated. Every generation assumes that it finally has things all figured out, until the next generation comes along and criticizes everything they had wrong. The Bible helps each generation to see their blind spots, but only if we give the Bible the authority it deserves.
2. Tradition. When habits become traditions, they become so entrenched in our lives that we often stop questioning them. People read the Bible, but say in their minds, ‘But in my church (or my family or my country) we’ve always done it this way.’ In Matthew 15:3, Jesus rebuked that attitude, saying, “Why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?”
3. Feelings. We live in an age that is fixated on making decisions based on our feelings. A generation of movies has told us to follow our hearts. Without even realizing it, we can read the Bible with the mindset, ‘I’m looking for something that resonates with me.’ And we can unconsciously dismiss anything that ‘doesn’t feel right.’ But Proverbs 14:12 warns, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” If your feelings are in charge, then God isn’t. Let the Scriptures evaluate your feelings, not the other way around.
Even if you try not to put popular consensus, tradition or feelings on the shelf beside the Bible, it’s hard to claim that you put the Bible on the top shelf as your ultimate authority if you don’t regularly take it out to read it. Make the pursuit of God and His will through the Scriptures a priority in your life. And let God guide you by His Word as you trust in it as your only perfect source of guidance.
In awe of Him,
Paul
