More Thoughts on "Yeah But..."

The real issue here is how we look at the scriptures. If the Bible is the word of God, which it absolutely is, then we need to know how to interact with it. Unfortunately, it isn't as simple as merely reading it. There is a correct way to handle the word and at the same time there is an incorrect way to handle the word. We have a slight disadvantage in that we have been exposed to experiences and we possess biases that we bring to the table when we read. These experiences and biases we impose on the text. We make it say what we want it to. This is called isogesis. What that means is we have an idea in our head maybe we heard someone say or maybe we experienced something that makes us feel it must be accurate, so we open the Word and make it say what we already think... this is wrong.

Let me show you a verse that should help curb this error: "There is a way that seems right to man, but in the end it leads to death" (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25).

So it is important for us to recognize that what may seem right and good and noble and biblical might in fact be wrong. We can manipulate the Bible to say pretty much anything we want. Its a big book and there are many portions that if taken out of context could lead to error and eventually to death.

That is why we want to pursue good reading of the bible... called exegesis. Trying to get from the text the actual meaning and truth. We need to come to the bible and work to understand what it actually says, then when we understand what it says then and only then can we apply. So, lets make it our effort to systematically encounter the word with a desire to understand its meaning and then apply what we learn to our lives.