Psalm 119:89 The Storyteller

Your word, LORD, is eternal;
 it stands firm in the heavens.

Psalm 119:89

"So, what does this scripture mean to you?"

I cringe whenever a bible study leader asks that question. I'm sure they mean well, but it reflects a flawed approach to the Word.

In today's American church there's a pervasive tendency to view the Word as something wholly personal. The point of every study is discover how this particular set of verses applies to your own life.

Some who eschew the introspective approach to the Word take what they think is the opposite approach. For them, every bible study should focus on dissecting the living Word and arranging the various parts together like tinker toys. The goal is to arrange the parts into a carefully arranged construct and call it religion.

This theological approach often carries with a subtle goal of proving that "my version of doctrine is better than yours." Which makes it a more complex version of the "what does this scripture mean to you" approach.

Both methods make a mockery of the Word.

The Word is not yours. It's not mine.

It's the Word of God Himself.

The Word is eternal - it existed long before any verse was ever written down on clay tablets or papyrus or in your Bible app.

The Word's foundation is not built on our hearts, even if it is written on our hearts. Its roots are not in your church or denomination or in your small group or in the emotional center of your heart.

It stands firmly in the heavens, where it came from the mouth of the God Almighty.

It certainly can mean something to you, but only when you let your identity be absorb and transformed by the eternal Word. Allow it to interpret your past and present and future, rather than interpreting the Word through the lens of your own experiences. Allow it to define your identity, rather than defining the scriptures according to what seems to fit with who you believe yourself to be.

It also is definitely the final and authoritative source of sound doctrine, but only as it represents the logos of God (the literal translation of theology: theos-logos) and not your own thoughts and opinions and conclusions. Allow the Word to dissect your heart and soul and mind, rather than using your own faculties to dissect the scriptures.