Before digging into some new thoughts, I figured some quick thoughts on the questions from the last post would be good. Why are we (Christians) being formed into the image of Christ? Theologically, I would point to Ephesians 1:9-10. God is restructuring the universe, bringing all things under the authority of Jesus. The universe was thrown into chaos when Adam and Eve sinned; His will is to reorder things to the way He intended it to be. Practically, we are being formed into the image of Christ for the sake of other people. If it was for our benefit, it would be pretty selfish, wouldn't it? Jesus was selfless, so becoming more like him means becoming others-oriented in order to bring them along in God's cosmic restoration!
Obviously, our knowledge and understanding of the Bible affects the way we follow Jesus because it determines our knowledge and understanding of who Jesus is. To me, that right there is the reason studying the Bible is so important. If you don't see Jesus for who he really is, it makes it pretty difficult to truly follow Jesus. Let's face it, the Bible is God's Word, and it is the main source of His revelation to us. We need to know and understand it!
So, on to some new thoughts. When we take our first steps as a baby, it is a certainty that we are going to fall down several times before we become efficient at it. Some of us fall more than others, and some of us are still trying to figure out how to walk, but what I am trying to get across is that as we begin walking as a disciple and as a student of the Bible, we are going to make mistakes over and over. So why am I even pointing this out. Most of you are leaders, right? Well, I may be going somewhere I don't need to go, but if we move on to the deeper, harder discussions, and we don't all have the same foundation, it's going to be hard to communicate with each other, which might cause debate, dissension, and NOT edification. So be patient with me as I attempt to lay a solid foundation for us all to build on.
So last week I mentioned the six areas of transformation that Bill Hull discusses in a couple of his books. The first of those six is a transformed mind: believing what Jesus believed. Many of us are well on our way with this area, but it is not something that anyone can ever say they have arrived at. It is something we will continue to learn and be transformed in for the rest of our lives. But what does it mean to have a transformed mind? Better yet, how do we begin to believe what Jesus believed? The irony of that question is that it has everything to do with how we study and interpret the Bible. Unfortunately, we can not answer that question in one post. But what we can do is begin to discuss the process for studying and interpreting the Bible, with the goal of believing what Jesus believed!
A goal of studying the Bible is to figure out what the original author intended to communicate in order to "translate" that principle into a meaningful, life-changing principle for our lives today. There are two main methods of studying the Bible: deductive and inductive. Many people have argued over which method is the best, and I propose that both are necessary! Deductive Bible study relies on sources such as commentaries, word studies, histories, and even study Bibles to help gain insight into a text's meaning. Inductive Bible study scraps everything but the text, our mind, and the Holy Spirit. Why would I suggest that both methods are so important, and how can we combine them in a way that helps us to really understand what the original author meant? What do you think?
Before concluding, I want to give some very basic basics. The Bible is a compilation of written documents. The Holy Spirit inspired men to write these various books, poems, and letters to communicate truth and reveal God to us. In the flow of communication, we have a speaker (the people who wrote the books, inspired by the Holy Spirit), an audience (us), and a medium (the Bible, a written medium of communication). Unfortunately, we live a long time after those who wrote the Bible, and in a completely different culture than we live in. That creates a HUGE disconnect, making it very difficult for us to be able to capture the author's intended meaning. However, we have one HUGE thing on our side. The Holy Spirit that inspired the authors to write what they did also resides inside of us. Therefore, with His help, we CAN grasp the intended meaning AND translate that into principles for living today!!
What thoughts and or questions does this all spark with you? Any light bulbs going off or is your head beginning to fog up?
Last week I read your first post. My first thought was "that is pretty deep"; I have no clue how to respond; and where is he going with this? After this second post, light bulbs went off, I think I now know where you are going (each subsequent week will build on the six Hull Steps of Transformation), and I had some thoughts.
ReplyDeleteFirst is the Sin Cycle. We each have areas of difficulty, each break out, but unfortunately fall back into the cycle, only to break out again, fall back, and so forth. To truly break a cycle and defeat a trouble area, we need knowledge of what the situation is,and where to draw on the strength to break it. This brings us to your point of getting into the Word. The more we grow,the stronger we are and better equipped to identify and defeat the situation.
I believe that this takes three things. First is a good Bible preaching church. Second is a good Study Bible, and third, a Small Group to interface and grow with. Shared trials and victories only strengthens all.
With respect to a strong Bible Teaching Church, I liked the ten week series on Ephesians. This series on "Money" could be a challenge! However, after reviewing your Leaders Guide and your second post, and after a quick "ok God, where do we go with this?", I was able to develop a mental outline of where I might go with this depending on Dave's direction on Sunday.
With respect to inductive versus deductive Bible study, I lean a bit more to the deductive. I have read an NIV, the New King James Version, the New American Standard Version, and am now in the ESV Study Bible. The first two had limited deductive sources and were primarily inductive, the third a bit more deductive, and the ESV is definitely a strong deductive study. It has provided much clarification.
Thanks for all that you do. Your material really helps.
Roy Brehm
Good stuff, Roy. I think you have a great tool in the ESV Study Bible. It's the best study Bible I have seen so far. You are right on...I am going to work through the six areas of transformation, but all the while, we will never stop discussing this first one. Grasping the author's intended meaning is a task we will never perfect, but should always strive for if we want to really have the mind of Christ. But we can still work on having the heart of Christ while we work on having the mind of Christ, right?
ReplyDelete"But what we can do is begin to discuss the process for studying and interpreting the Bible, with the goal of believing what Jesus believed!"...
ReplyDeleteRichard J. Foster's book "Celebration of Discipline" has a great chapter on the discipline of study. In it he says,
"Study is a specific kind of experience in which careful attention to reality and mind is enabled to move in a certain direction. Remember, the mind will always take on an order conforming to the order upon which it concentrates. Perhaps we observe a tree or read a book. We see it, feel it, understand it, draw conclusions from it. And as we do, our thought processes take on an order conforming to the order in the tree or book. When this is done with concentration, perception, and repetition, ingrained habits of thought are formed."
He goes on to give many concrete techniques for learning to study. The point being that if we are indeed to be transformed into the likeness of Christ, we must have our way of thinking conformed to His way of thinking. Changing the way we think, from the thoughts of our old sinful flesh, to thoughts in line with the word of God is a process worked in us by the Holy Spirit through all of our christian walk. I find one of the biggest challenges as a teacher is to help younger believers to understand that the work of the Spirit can be helped or hindered based upon our willingness to make study a regular discipline as opposed to a hit and miss event.
Having the mind of Christ is a habit which is developed by doing something over and over, just like any other habit.
The sin cycle that Roy talks about will never be fully conquered this side of heaven, but a deliberate choice to create godly habits through study can help to make victory the rule rather than the exception.
Daren Toland
Wow! More great comments. I appreciate Foster's work very much. His quote above is very poignant, nd your point of victory becoming the rule rather than the exception is something we should experience and realize. God's Word is the starting point!
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