Christian culture today, especially among younger Christians seems to be very focused around the Bible. I’ve heard so many times after church, opinions on whether the pastor either used enough of the Bible in the sermon or not enough. The amount of the Bible referenced in the message always seems to be important to people.
I was reading through John 5 recently and one part of what Jesus was sharing stuck out to me so much.
“You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. I do not accept glory from human beings, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts (John 5:39-42).”
As I read that, I began to wonder if our focus on “Biblical teaching” and “Bible studies” might be getting in the way of us coming to Jesus. No doubt, the Scriptures teach about and point to Jesus. But Jesus clearly says here that they are not an end, in and of themselves. They only aid us as they push us closer to Him.
One interesting thing is how Biblically illiterate we are today even though we supposedly place a high emphasis on the Bible in our churches.
I even attend a seminary that has a slogan of: “If it’s the Bible you want, then you want…(my school).” It’s not that I hate the slogan, I have received a lot of wisdom from my professors who do well teaching directly from the Bible. But I do wonder if putting so much focus on the Bible turns our eyes to the wrong thing first.
Placing anything in front of Jesus is making it an idol. I can’t speak for all of us, but I’m sure on some level we’ve all made an idol out of the Bible.
I’m curious to hear some of your perspectives on this.
Should we be concerned at all by the words of Jesus in John 5?
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