I was going to be the best. As a college student, I wanted to know God’s Word, and I wanted to interpret the Word well—and I wanted everyone to know it. Though God was working in many people, He was obviously working in me more! I expected people would see me as a deep thinker with an influential voice. What I didn’t expect, however, was that, during Bible study, I would find a better interpreter.
At our meeting we studied Matthew 13. In the chapter, great crowds gather to Jesus, and he tells of a sower who sows seed. Four soils each produce a result. Three yield no fruit, but the fourth yields lots of fruit!
As a proud, young, Christian, I of course knew the parable. But my greatest surprise came at what Jesus told His disciples afterwards:
Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom… (Matt 13:18-19a)
Jesus explains the parable. The sower sows the seed of God’s Word. And the soils? They represent people who hear the Word. At this point, the Bible study leader remarked, “Do you realize that as we interpret the Bible, the Bible is actually interpreting you?”
Ed Yourdon (2008), Creative Commons
I was in shock. I wanted to prove myself as a great Bible interpreter. But I hadn’t yet realized that the best interpreter in the room was the Word itself. It exposed my hard heart, and it revealed my lack of fruit. My invulnerability, pride, and self-centeredness were in the open. God’s Word had found me out, as it always does.
Now, of course we want to observe, interpret, and apply. We should be good students of the Word. But we must remember it isn’t a one-way street. We need more than good scholarship; we need exposure. As we look at God’s Word, it’s being sown in our hearts. And our response to that Word reveals what kind of people we are.
Can a book know us better than we know ourselves? The book God wrote can, and exposure produces change in us. Consider Hebrews 4:11-13:
Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Imagine that. The world’s sharpest sword pierces your heart; it sees and understands all your thoughts and intentions. And nothing is hidden from God. You are naked and exposed. Why? So you may strive to enter that rest. In other words, only exposed people will cling to the cross of Christ.
So, as you interpret God’s Word, have you considered how it’s exposing you? Or do you hide behind facts, theology, or pride? Do your applications penetrate the surface of your life? Is God’s Word showing you where you are weak?
Let’s interpret God’s Word well. But as we do, let’s remember that this Word is always the best interpreter in the room.
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