Have you ever held a belief so sincerely that you never questioned it? Or have you ever been so convinced that you are right about something the thought that you might be wrong never entered your mind? This is a dangerous place to be. The Bible would call this an unteachable person, and the Bible doesn’t speak highly of unteachable people. The truth of the matter is this, truth will stand up to scrutiny, trial, and examination. Of course the first place we must start is this, there are absolute truths. It appears the world has a problem with this, but that doesn’t change the fact that they do exist. We have to be willing to examine our beliefs. One thing I speak on frequently at WBC is, why do you believe what you believe, and where in Scripture can you defend your belief. Now fast forward this to being a teacher. Inevitably it is always going to happen, someone is going to challenge you or a belief you hold. In a moment of confession I must say this use to terrify me. The thought of “what if I can’t defend my belief” or the dreaded question, “what if I’m wrong” would creep in. But I want to suggest that rather than this being a bad thing, it is actually a good thing albeit still frightening from time to time. It is only when we search for the truth that we can uncover it. I had a professor who said many times, “what someone gives you another can take away, but what you find yourself is yours.” What he meant was if I developed my beliefs and convictions based on what others taught me, someone could come along, spin it a different way, and I could change my opinion. However, as I study and seek the truth humbly, God will reveal it in His Word and then I will have a belief that I can justify based on God’s Word. So how can I come to firm convictions based on truth?
First, we must begin with a humble spirit. The Bible says that God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. We need to approach Bible study with this opinion, I don’t know it all. You can study the Bible every day of your life and I am convinced that if you lived to be 100, you still would not know all of the wonderful truths contained in the Word of God. The Bible says that there are mysteries. Now don’t misunderstand that. A mystery is something that is unknown to us. But just because we don’t know it, doesn’t mean that it is unknown, because God knows it. Secondly, if we are going to come to true convictions we need to be prayerful. The Bible teaches in the book of Romans that without the Holy Spirit guiding us, we could not understand the Bible. If you want to know what something means, go to the author, for He can tell you exactly what He means. I suggest you pray before opening your Bible and pray after you have read the passage, asking for wisdom, and then pray at the end of your study time thanking God for teaching you His Word. Finally, I would say dig into the word of God. Begin reading it for yourself. Pastors are wonderful people who desire to help their people learn the truths of the Word of God. Pastors are God-given, but they are not to be a substitute for your own personal reading time. Grab a notebook, a pen, your Bible, get to a quiet place and enjoy learning about an awesome God. Certainly if you are stuck and need help, your pastor is there for you. A word of caution for all pastors and teachers (yes myself included), if you don’t know simply say “I don’t know, but I will look into it.” I know we like to get on an ego trip of “I’m a pastor, I know the Bible better than anyone else”, but the truth of the matter is this, we don’t know it all either. If I could offer one more suggestion, get into a Bible study. I love Wednesday nights at WBC. On Wednesday nights here we go verse by verse through a book, I throw out questions to those there and they throw questions back. Sometimes we run around in circles and may not find our answer, but many times God lays it on our hearts and we learn together. I’m grateful for a church that desires to learn the truth of God’s Word, and grateful that they will let me learn along with them. (Shamless plug alert) If you are in the SML area, I want to invite you to join us on Wednesdays (Sundays to) starting at 6:00 for a meal and then service starts at 6:45. Contact the church for directions at 540-721-8784 or go to our website which is www.westlakebaptist.com. Happy studying and learning, and remember it’s ok to not know it all, gives you something to study tomorrow!
By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him