Bad Practices from Bible Study

“You just make the Bible mean whatever you want it to,” he screamed at me.

Screamed. As in, shaking in anger, red-faced, and L-O-U-D.

And this, in a public Bible study at our church.

I looked around for help from some of the other church leaders, but quickly realizing that I was on my own, I tried to de-escalate as best I could. I was burning inside, but knew that I had to keep it together for the sake of not letting things spiral out of control.

The dust-up occurred because I was trying to explain what a phrase in the New Testament meant (or might mean, as it were). The phrase in question (1 Corinthians 13:10; “completeness,” or, “the perfect,” for those of you can’t resist knowing) is “contested” in biblical studies, which is a fancy way of saying that there are multiple interpretations that can’t be settled on.

This is because the phrase, in its original Greek, relies on a word that is used only in this passage. There are no comparables for it, no way to rely on other meanings to help interpret it.

In my class, I tried to outline the three main interpretations of this phrase. But the chaos mentioned above ensued when I expressed that all three options were interpretations, and not the clear meaning of the phrase.

For the gentleman who was yelling at me, the phrase didn’t have an interpretation; it had a meaning…and because I didn’t precisely agree with him, I was twisting the Bible to mean whatever I wanted it to. (This leaves aside the fact that I never definitively offered my own thoughts about meaning. I offered my opinion, but even said there that I couldn’t prove it, and we had to be okay with some uncertainty.)

Needless to say, I left angry that night, feeling undervalued by some of the church members and underappreciated by the church leaders.

Ironically, the phrase in question occurs in a section of the letter of 1 Corinthians that is all about the primacy of love.

Because that’s what good Bible study should lead us to…not anger and screaming toward others, but love and compassion for all. Because good Bible study helps us to learn and live the priorities and values of God. It helps us become more godly.

Bible study doesn’t need to be difficult. Bible study should always help to bring us closer to God. If it doesn’t, we’re doing something wrong.

I know the Bible can seem to be a big, confusing book for many. It’s hard to know where to start reading, how to piece together the history, or how to understand some of the older parts of the Bible.

And while there are some difficult parts, the overall story and message of the Bible is simple: God desires to dwell with God’s people. That’s it. Every story, passage, or teaching we read in the Bible should be understood in that light. God loves you, and wants you to be with him.

I’m going to be teaching a free livestream about this–specifically, about how to read the Bible for spiritual growth. I’m going to teach it through my Facebook page. If you haven’t “liked” that page yet, please do so at http://facebook.com/jeremyhooverwriting. Stay tuned for the event link.

I will teach for about 30 minutes, then leave time open for Q & A.

Let me know if you have any questions! I’d love to see you there.

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