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Why We Need Community to Apply the Bible

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Because it is so personal, application can be the most demanding part of Bible study. In observation and interpretation, we focus on the words and meaning of a passage of Scripture, and our distance from the study provides some cover. But application is dangerous because God calls us not just to think but to change. Applying the Bible is difficult.

Yet this difficulty doubles when we attempt application on our own. Like a solo mission on a battlefield or a five-on-one game of basketball, the odds of successful application spike when we engage without company. Relationships are messy and the cause of deep grief at times, yet God ministers grace to his children through other Christians. We need each other in order to faithfully apply the Bible.

Grayson Akerly (2013), Creative Commons License

Our Blindness

We need other people because we all have blind spots. We often see ourselves dimly, as in shadows. While we may identify obvious transgressions, there are subtle sins below the surface. Blind spots show up in each of the three spheres of our lives where we must apply the Bible.

Ephesians 4:22–24 gives three steps for change when applying the Bible to your head: Identify what you think, identify what God wants you to think instead, and start thinking God’s thoughts. But how do we identify what we think? Our minds and beliefs are far more complex and layered than we assume, and the lies we believe often hide behind solid truths. A willing friend can help unveil our thoughts.

When applying the Bible to our heart, we focus on character. We ponder what kind of person God wants us to be. We have previously considered some questions to give us traction in this task: In what ways are you relying on your performance? What are your greatest hopes?

But here’s the problem: How confident are you in your ability to answer these questions? Can you diagnose your character by yourself? Our true hopes and values may be slightly (or dramatically) different from what we state in polite company. When a brother or sister forces us to answer why questions, we unmask our hypocrisy.

Perhaps most obviously, we have blind spots in our behavior (applying the Bible to our hands). We might not realize how our words were harmful or how we ignored someone in need. We might not identify our conversation as gossip, our snacking as gluttony, or our “personal time” as selfish. Good friends can point out our overlooked sins.

If we ignore community when applying the Bible, we will miss aspects of our head, heart, and hands that need to change. But our blind spots are not the only reason we need other Christians in our lives to help with application.

Our Resistance

Because both the old man and the new man dwell within us, we always face a challenge when pursuing obedience to God. (See Galatians 5:16–17.) Our flesh likes inertia and dislikes change, especially if that change is brought about by faith. When applying the Bible to our lives, our flesh offers massive resistance.

Sometimes this resistance appears shortly after we resolve to change. Despite the conviction we feel and God’s call to repent, our flesh grabs a bullhorn and reminds us of the inconvenience of change. The old man offers dozens of reasons to delay or abandon this new obedience. One way to rob these protests of their power is to anticipate them with a friend.

But our flesh contends against our repentance over time as well. We’ve probably all experienced this: under the conviction of the Spirit you decide that change is needed, so you start off on a new course. You’re not walking perfectly, but by God’s grace you begin in the right direction. Over time that initial conviction of sin wears off, and you no longer connect the new behavior to the reason that inspired it. So the new behavior happens less and less frequently until it doesn’t happen at all. Sometimes we need friends to ask us about a repentance begun months ago.

If we ignore community when applying the Bible, we may lose momentum in our application and give up.

The “How”

Our blind spots and our resistance to change provide some reasons that Christians should apply the Bible in community. In my next post we’ll discuss how to apply the Bible in community.

Buying a Markup Bible

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Are you convinced that you should consider using a markup Bible? Such a Bible is an ideal way to begin studying God’s word, as it gives you space to underline, circle, highlight, or write directly on the text of Scripture. A markup Bible frees you from the pressure to preserve the book you’re using and allows you to focus on God’s words.

Using a markup Bible may be as easy as taking one of your current Bibles (or some printouts from Bible Gateway) and applying ink to paper. For most people, there is no need to make another purchase.

bible3

Bill Smith (2014), Creative Commons License

But maybe you don’t have an extra Bible you’re able or willing to set aside for this purpose. This post is for people who are considering buying something new.

What a Markup Bible Should Not Be

In what follows you’ll find several qualities I value in a markup Bible. Allow me one negative suggestion first. Your markup Bible should not be a study Bible.

Judging by the supply, Christians in the U.S. love study Bibles. I think there is a place for a study Bible, but if you aren’t careful, using such a Bible can hamstring your personal study of the Scriptures (as Jen Wilkin so ably argued). So if you’re buying a markup Bible, don’t buy a study Bible. This will help you guard against the presumption that comes from trusting experts to interpret God’s word for you.

What a Markup Bible Need Not Be

Your markup Bible will get a lot of use—that’s the point!—so it will get messy. It will bear the signs of love. This means you won’t miss the genuine leather, the fancy page edges, or the gold-stamped monogram. While you don’t need to snap up the cheapest Bible you can find, you can safely steer away from the high-end Bible market.

Think of it this way. Your child loves to play outside, and you want him appropriately dressed. The clothes he wears will get stained, muddied, and utterly worn through. Will you shop for his play jeans at Target or Ralph Lauren?

What a Markup Bible Should Be

Of the dozens of features to consider, only a few top my list for a good markup Bible.

  • translation — A good translation is vital when studying the Bible closely and paying careful attention to words. Try to choose a Bible version that has a word-for-word translation philosophy.1 Here are a few reliable Bible translations that I recommend for close study: New American Standard Bible (NASB), English Standard Version (ESV), and New King James Version (NKJV).

  • margins — In addition to underlining, circling, and drawing lines between words (these help me observe the text), I frequently write little interpretive questions in the margins of my markup Bible. What does that mean? Why did he write that? Why did he do/say that? So what?

    For most Bibles, margin width is an afterthought. But some newer Bibles are made with oversized margins. These may be advertised as “Journaling Bibles” (see below), but those margins offer generous space for marking and annotating the text.

  • font size — Since a markup Bible is a tool for study and doesn’t need to slide into a purse or a pocket, be sure to buy a Bible with a readable font size. Thinline and pocket-sized Bibles are convenient and popular, but the font size sometimes makes me feel like Isaac in his latter days (Gen 27:1). Make sure you can see the words on the page comfortably so that you can interact with them.

While you might consider other features like cross-references or the color of the words of Jesus, searching for a good translation with a decent font size and generous margins should start you down the path to buying a useful markup Bible.

A Few Recommendations

Without further ado, here are some Bibles you may want to consider as you make a markup Bible purchase. (Prices listed were accurate on Feb 6, 2015 and may change. Unless noted, links direct you to Amazon.com.)

  • NASB Note-Taker’s Bible — Hard cover, 8-point font, wide margins for notes. It’s selling for $25.81 right now. (Buy it at Christianbook.com for $24.99.) You can also find a NKJV version at Amazon ($25.36) or CB ($24.99).
  • ESV Journaling Bible — This has a hard cover, 7.5-point font, ruled margins for notes, and an elastic strap (like a Moleskine journal), selling for $28.79. (Buy it at CB for $23.99 or at WTS for $22.79.)
  • ESV Single Column Journaling Bible — This is a variation on the previous item where the text of Scripture is set in a single column instead of the traditional two columns per page. It’s $30.98 at Amazon, $24.99 at CB, and $23.99 at WTS.
  • ESV Wide Margin Reference Bible — This has an imitation leather cover, 9-point font, and margins on the outside and center. (The previous three items just have wide margins on the outside of the pages, not near the binding.) It’s $40.44 at Amazon, $39.99 at CB, and $35.99 at WTS.
  • ESV Single Column Legacy Bible — This 9-point text is set in a single column with nice margins on the outside and bottom of the page. It comes in several (imitation leather) cover designs and colors. (I’m linking to the burgundy cover, which is the cheapest.) It’s $35.98 at Amazon, $29.99 at CB, and $29.99 at WTS.
  • Pew Bibles — Let’s mix it up for the final suggestions. None of these pew Bibles have wide margins. However, they’re significantly cheaper than the previous items and they have the Large Print option available. These are all hardcover.
    • ESV Value Pew Bible — 8-point font, $10.64 at Amazon, $7.99 at CB, and $7.19 at WTS
    • ESV Pew & Worship Bible — 9-point font, contains some responsive readings, $11.83 at Amazon, $9.99 at CB, and $9.59 at WTS (Buy the large-print version—12-point font—for $18.96 at Amazon, $15.99 at CB, or $14.99 at WTS.)
    • NASB Pew Bible — 8-point font, $7.99 at Amazon, $7.49 at CB (Buy the large-print version—10-point font—for $11.66 at Amazon or $10.99 at CB.)
    • NKJV Pew Bible — I cannot find the font size for this, even on the manufacturer’s page! It’s $10.67 at Amazon and $9.99 at CB. (The large-print version of this Bible is called “Giant Print,” and you can buy it for $13.37 at Amazon or $11.99 at CB.)

Footnote

  1. The other major translation philosophy is thought-for-thought, and most translations fall on the spectrum between the two. You can also go here (scroll down) to find a translation comparison chart and to see some verses in many different translations. ↩

Disclaimer: The Amazon and WTS links in this post are affiliate links, meaning that if you buy something after clicking through our link, we get a small percentage of the purchase price. It’s an easy and helpful way to support the site!

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My Favorite Way to Read the New Testament

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I’m in the thick of my 5th annual Bible romp, and I just hit the New Testament. This year, I decided to read the Old Testament in canonical order (the order they’re found in most Bibles) so I could try out my nice new ESV Reader’s Bible. (I’m loving it; here’s my full review.)

Jordan Klein (2007), Creative Commons

Jordan Klein (2007), Creative Commons

Now that I’m in the New Testament, I couldn’t resist going back to my favorite way to read it. Going straight from Matthew to Revelation is fine, of course. But I love considering the New Testament along four tracks:

  • Track #1: Matthew, Hebrews, James, Jude
  • Track #2: Mark, 1 Peter, 2 Peter
  • Track #3: Luke, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon
  • Track #4: John, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Revelation

There’s nothing magical about these four tracks, but I find them helpful in showcasing and explaining the message of Christ in four specific ways.

  • Track 1 focuses explicitly on how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament and led Jews into the new covenant. Those familiar with the Old Testament tend to love this track.
  • Track 2 focuses on Peter’s eyewitness testimony to scattered Jewish converts to Christianity. Established religious folks often benefit from this track.
  • Track 3 focuses on Paul’s witness to Christ and his ministry to the Gentiles. No-nonsense folks who love to have all the facts tend to love this track.
  • Track 4 focuses on John’s eyewitness testimony to scattered Jews, seeking to persuade them of Jesus’ messiahship and to assure them amid great persecution. Young believers and unbelievers exploring Jesus often benefit from this track.

Since all Scripture is profitable for all men and women, I don’t want to pigeonhole these tracks too narrowly. But noticing some general trends and connections (for example, that Peter was the source for much of Mark’s material) can help us to digest the major threads and to target our ministries in ways similar to the apostles who wrote these books. Also, it helps us to remember there are multiple ways to present Jesus to the world, depending on the type of people we seek to reach.

——————-

Disclaimer: The Amazon link above is an affiliate link. That means that if the FTC ever stops me at a river crossing and asks me to say Shibboleth, they’ll want to hear me say that “anything you buy from Amazon after clicking that link will send some nickels and dimes my way to help cover my hosting fees.” My thanks remain ever unceasing.

Why You Should Consider a “Markup Bible”

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Every scientist worth his safety goggles has a laboratory. Professional athletes have personal gyms. In the same way, if you’re serious about studying God’s word, you should consider using a markup Bible.

bible3-mod

George Bannister (2008), Creative Commons License

Define Your Terms, Sir!

By a markup Bible I mean a Bible set aside for study. This is not a Bible for church or an heirloom to leave to your children. Like the gym or the lab, a markup Bible is an intense work environment. If you plan to be a lifelong student of God’s word, this Bible will contain your Spirit-guided efforts for years to come. But be warned: this book may end up unreadable.

When an expert chef pours himself into a special meal, he isn’t worried about the mayhem he creates along the way. At the end of the evening, there may be flour on the counter and batter on the cabinets. But the messes don’t matter if the dishes are delicious. A markup Bible is your chef’s kitchen, and the fare you prepare (by God’s grace) is a loving heart and obedient life which point to your Father in heaven (Matt 5:16).

What is the Advantage?

If you study the Bible using the Observation-Interpretation-Application (OIA) method, you must get your hands dirty. You need to grapple with the text again and again. What does it say? What does it mean? How should I change?

To answer these questions, you should interact with Scripture carefully and vigorously. You might do this in a notebook, in a word processing document, or even on a smart phone. I prefer to write, draw, underline, and circle directly on the Bible text. This helps me boomerang back to God’s word instead of getting caught in my own speculations.

To make applications personal and memorable, I often end my study times by writing in a notebook. But I move through the OIA stages more easily if I begin by marking up the relevant Bible passage.

Do I Need to Spend Money?

To be honest, you probably don’t need another Bible. Most first-world homes contain more Bibles than Bible students. Instead of a new purchase, consider converting one of your old or current Bibles into a markup Bible.

You may not need a separate Bible at all. I’ve often used print-outs from Bible Gateway for my initial studying and marking. Since printer ink and paper cost money, this approach is not free, but buying another book is not necessary.

However, as I have written before, when people enjoy their tools they are more likely to use them. Having a Bible devoted to markup and study may set this activity apart as special for you. For this same reason, some people designate a chair, notebook, or bench for the purpose of prayer. (If you are considering making a purchase, stay tuned for my next post.)

How Should I Use a Markup Bible?

bible5

J.A. Medders (2014), used by permission

Getting started with a markup Bible is easy. Make observation and interpretation notes in your Bible. Highlight and underline. Draw circles, boxes, and arrows. Locate repeated words and connectors. Use a color code, so that all repetitions of the same word share a color. Diagram the structure of the passage and tease out the main point. There is no single correct approach to follow, and each person will develop their own system of symbols and marks. (Note: a markup Bible doesn’t negate the usefulness of these OIA worksheets. I suggest using them to summarize and organize your thoughts after first marking up the passage.)

A markup Bible eliminates the need to preserve the book you are studying. You don’t have to treat it gingerly. Focus on the words of God instead.

A Little Greek can be a Big Distraction

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I’ve argued that you don’t have to reference Greek or Hebrew to study the Bible. You can observe, interpret, and apply just fine using a decent English translation (I use the ESV and NET the most).

In this post, I’d like to give an example of how knowing a bit of Greek can actually distract you from careful OIA of a passage.

Afghanistan Matters (2009), Creative Commons

Afghanistan Matters (2009), Creative Commons

In John 21:15-19, Jesus and Simon Peter eat breakfast and chat about love and lambs. Three times, Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” Three times, Peter affirms his love, and Jesus calls him to be a godly shepherd.

Those who dig into the Greek text of John 21 quickly discover that John uses two different words for “love.” Jesus’ first two questions use the word agape. Jesus’ third question and all three of Peter’s responses use the word philia.

“Do you love (agape) me?”
“Yes, Lord, you know that I love (philia) you.”
“Do you love (agape) me?”
“Yes, Lord, you know that I love (philia) you.”
“Do you love (philia) me?”
“You know that I love (philia) you.”

The question arises: What is the difference between agape and philia? What’s really going on in the conversation that doesn’t come across in English?

So the student reads commentaries and consults lexicons. Many blogs address this particular question in this particular passage (just Google “agape philia john 21,” and you’ll have no shortage of reading material). Some say that agape love is the higher form of love, and Jesus comes down to Peter’s level the third time. Others reverse it, saying that by the end Peter convinces Jesus that he has the right kind of love.

The problem with this approach is that it assumes that Greek words each have a focused, specialized meaning. It approaches lexicons as technical manuals, almost as if there’s a code to be broken, and the right tools offer the key.

But no language works that way. Not English or German, Greek or Hebrew. Words certainly have histories. They have ranges of meaning. Lexicons help us to understand their range of usage.

But literature is as much an art as it is a science. Writers have agendas, but they advance their agendas by making them beautiful. So they use synonyms, turns of phrase, metaphors, and other such devices.

Referring to John 21;15-19, D.A. Carson explains:

Some expositions of these verses turn on the distribution of the two different verbs for “love” that appear…This will not do, for at least the following reasons…The two verbs are used interchangeably in this Gospel…The Evangelist constantly uses minor variations for stylistic reasons of his own. This is confirmed in the present passage. In addition to the two words for “love,” John resorts to three other pairs: bosko and poimano (“feed” and “take care of” the sheep), arnia and probata (“lambs” and “sheep”), and oida and ginosko (both rendered “you know” in v. 17). These have not stirred homiletical imaginations; it is difficult to see why the first pair should (The Gospel According to John, pp. 676-677).

If we hadn’t gotten distracted by Greek expeditions, what treasure might we mine from this passage? Note the following observations, which could easily be made from the English text.

  1. The setting: the scene takes place at a charcoal fire (John 21:9), the same setting where Peter denied Jesus three times (John 18:18). Charcoal fires appear in only these two scenes in the Gospel of John. It’s not an accident.
  2. The flow: Peter begins the chapter chasing his former vocation as a fisherman (John 21:3). Jesus wants to turn him into a shepherd (John 21:15-17). Peter gets it. Later, when he instructs church elders, he doesn’t call them to be fishers of men. He commands them to shepherd the flock of God (1 Peter 5:1-2).
  3. The model: Jesus wants Peter to follow him (John 21:19b). This means Peter should be a shepherd like Jesus was (John 21:15-17). This means dying for the good of the sheep, just like Jesus did (John 21:18-19, 10:11-15).

John 21 shows Jesus restoring and commissioning Peter for sacrificial leadership in the church. This much is clear even in translation.

Sure, the Greek (or Hebrew) text often reveals wordplay that doesn’t translate well. Sometimes the structure of a passage or argument is more clear in the original language than in translation. And Greek and Hebrew are simply beautiful and fun.

But the main point of a passage rarely depends on intimate knowledge of the original languages.

Recalculating: How Study Bibles Can Limit Bible Study

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I’m supposed to be on vacation this week, and we’re working hard on some house projects. So I’m pleased that Jen Wilkin gave me permission to repost this terrific article from her blog. Jen Wilkin is a wife, mom to four great kids, and an advocate for women to love God with their minds through the faithful study of his Word. She writes, speaks, and teaches women the Bible. She lives in Flower Mound, Texas, and her family calls The Village Church home. Jen is the author of Women of the Word: How to Study the Bible with Both Our Hearts and Our Minds (Crossway, forthcoming). You can follow her on Twitter.

We love our study Bibles. Many of us spend our daily reading time with a study Bible in hand, stopping at trickier passages to glance to the bottom of the page for help with interpretive difficulties. And we make progress – our reading plans stay on schedule, and we find that we reach the end of a passage with greater understanding than when we started. But are study Bibles as helpful as they seem?

Jim Clark (2007), Creative Commons

Jim Clark (2007), Creative Commons

Several years ago I moved from Houston to Dallas. Having lived in Houston for thirteen years, I could drive its streets with ease. I had no idea how to navigate Dallas, so I used a GPS to get everywhere I needed to go. It was a great feeling – knowing almost nothing of the city, I could map a route to my destination instantaneously. I never had to feel lost or waste time wandering around on the wrong roads.

But three years later, I still didn’t know my way around Dallas without that GPS. If its battery died or if I left home without it, I was in big trouble. And then another strange thing happened: I took a trip back to Houston. In a city I knew well, I found that my GPS didn’t always pick the route that made the most sense. It still spoke with the same tone of authority it used in Dallas, but I could tell that it was choosing the obvious route over the most direct one.

The Benefit of Getting Lost

When I got back to Dallas I knew what I had to do: I had to allow myself to get lost. I had to wander around a bit, plan extra travel time, miss some exits, make wrong turns in order to learn for myself the routes my GPS had spoon-fed me. And in some cases, in order to learn better routes.

This is the same lesson I have learned about study Bibles. If I am not careful, they can mask my ignorance of Scripture and give me a false sense that I know my way around its pages. I do not labor for understanding because the moment I hit a hard passage, I immediately resolve my discomfort of feeling “lost” by glancing down at the notes. And hearing their authoritative tone, I can grow forgetful that they are, in fact, only man’s words – commentary, an educated opinion, profitable but not infallible.

My intent is not to question the value of commentary. Sound commentary is invaluable to the Bible student. My intent is to question its place in the learning process. Unless we consult it after we attempt to comprehend and interpret on our own, we tend to defer completely to its reasoning. The problem is not with our study Bibles, the problem is with our need for instant gratification and our dislike of feeling lost.

In short, if I never allow myself to get lost, I never allow the learning process to take its proper course. If I never fight for interpretation on my own, I accept whatever interpretation I am given at face value. And that’s a dangerous route to drive.

Right Use

So, what is the right use for a study Bible? What should you do if you, too, find it limits your Bible study because it is just too easy to consult? I would suggest the following:

  • Don’t throw it away, just put it away. Keep your study Bible on the shelf when you read. Get a Bible with only cross-references to use as your primary copy. Investigate cross-references to help you comprehend and interpret.
  • Treat study Bible notes as what they are: commentary, and brief commentary at that. Remember that they are man’s words, subject to bias and error. Read them respectfully but critically.
  • Consult multiple sources. Study notes should be a starting point for further inquiry, not a terminus. Once you have read for personal understanding in a note-free Bible, consult not one, but several study Bibles and commentaries from trusted sources. Look for consensus and disagreement among them.
  • Ask the Holy Spirit for insight. Humbly ask the Spirit to reveal truth to your heart and mind as you read for understanding on your own, and as you compare your own discoveries to those of trusted commentators. Even if you find you have drawn the wrong conclusion from a text, you are more likely to remember the better conclusion because you have worked hard to discover it.

So use your study Bible as it is intended to be used: as a reference point for your own conclusions, but not as a substitute for them. And get lost a little bit. Allow yourself to feel the extent of what you don’t understand. It’s a humbling feeling – but if your destination is wisdom and understanding, humility makes an excellent starting point for the journey. Seek with all of your heart, trusting the promise that those who do so will find that which they seek (Jer 29:13).

Beware Unpleasant Harmony

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Have you ever tried singing unaccompanied hymns with a group of tone-deaf people? It presents a unique challenge: Can we hold the tune? Will we end in the same key in which we began? Is the melody recognizable, or would an eavesdropper assume we’re trying one of those new-fangled old-hymn-with-new-music arrangements (and one that wasn’t done very well)?

Vancouver 125 (2011), Creative Commons

Vancouver 125 (2011), Creative Commons

With such a group, you’ve accomplished something special if you’ve gotten the group to sing in unison. Usually, you get harmony whether you want it or not. But the harmony is unpleasant if the original tune isn’t clear.

Biblical Harmonization

I just finished a series of Bible studies on the feeding of the 5,000. My goal has been to show that the Gospels recount the same event, but each with a different point. Last week, I summarized the unique intentions of each Gospel’s account.

In this final post, I’ll step back from the study’s content to reflect on the methodology behind it. In particular, I’d like to make explicit what was implicit all along: the dangers of harmonization.

Harmonization is the process of taking multiple accounts of the same event and combining them into a unified whole. So, we harmonize when we teach a lesson on “The Feeding of the 5,000” without looking at a specific passage.

Harmonization is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s very helpful when we’re reconstructing a historical event or building general biblical literacy. For example, most children’s Bibles won’t have a separate chapter for each of the four feeding accounts. They combine the accounts into a single chapter to help children become familiar with the event itself.

But harmonization can be unhelpful when it clouds the text’s message.

Some Dangers

While harmonization is not always bad, here are some dangers of not doing it carefully:

1. Divorcing the event from the text.

We’ll think of the event as a historical abstraction, which can lead to the second danger.

2. Assigning our own meaning to the event.

In the absence of a particular text (with a particular main point), we might assign any point we want to the event. Such abstraction can lead people to use the Bible to prove anything they want to prove. This approach is not submissive to either the text handed down to us or the divine Author who handed it down .

3. Dulling observation

We think of the little boy’s lunch as being central to any discussion of the feeding. We fail to notice that only John mentions this boy. Similarly, only Luke mentions the disciples’ concern with not only food but lodging for the multitude.

4. Hindering interpretation

Why does only John mention the little boy’s lunch? Why does only Luke mention the disciples’ concern to find the people not only food but lodging? Such questions simply don’t matter if we harmonize the accounts.

5. Flattening application

If I harmonize the feeding accounts, I might always land on the same application (probably something about giving up what little I have and trusting Jesus to multiply it). I’ll lose the rich variety of applications that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John make to different audiences.

A Way Forward

Let’s hear the text—each text within its context. Once there’s a clear tune, we can see how it fits together with others.

The key is to learn to sing before you try to harmonize.

Four Perspectives on the Message of Christ

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Because the good news about Jesus Christ is for all nations (Gen 12:3, Is 66:18-20, Matt 28:19-20, Acts 11:17-18), the message has some inherent flexibility. It can be delivered in various ways to various people at various times.

Please don’t misunderstand: I’m not saying there are no false gospels (nor that any message = God’s message). I’m merely saying that the true gospel can’t be oversimplified to a single, universal formula. For example, “Jesus is Lord,” “Jesus is the Christ,” “Jesus died for our sins,” and “The Kingdom of God is among you” are all biblical and have their place, and each formula will resonate differently for different people groups (or even different individuals).

I believe that’s why God didn’t give a single portrait of Jesus in the New Testament. To communicate the breadth of his grace to the nations, God gave four Gospels, which provide four lenses through which we can view the work of Christ.

All four perspectives are true. All four are important. Each speaks truth in a slightly different way, though there’s significant overlap between them.

And each Gospel lens triggers further reflection on the person and work of Christ in the epistles.

As you read the New Testament, consider these subdivisions:

Kathryn Decker (2013), Creative Commons

Kathryn Decker (2013), Creative Commons

  1. Matthew: with James, Hebrews, Jude
  2. Mark: with 1 & 2 Peter
  3. Luke: with Acts, Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon
  4. John: with 1, 2, & 3 John, Revelation

Perspective #1: By Jews, for Jews

These books show Jesus fulfilling the Old Testament; he’s everything the Jews had been waiting for. These books clarify points of continuity and discontinuity between Old and New Testaments, and they preach the gospel to people familiar with the things of God.

Perspective #2: Peter’s Perspective

Mark was Peter’s close associate (1 Peter 5:13), and many scholars have noted Peter’s hand in Mark’s Gospel. Many episodes read like Peter’s memoirs (such as, Mark 1:36, 14:72). Mark’s Gospel and Peter’s epistles have a strong sense of “doing,” with comparatively little emphasis on “teaching.” These books preach the gospel to people who feel out-of-place in their world and who appreciate knowing just the facts.

Perspective #3: Paul’s Perspective

There’s a strong case for identifying Luke-Acts as a trial brief written to aid Paul’s defense in Roman court. Undoubtedly, Luke was Paul’s close associate and one of his only companions to the end (2 Tim 4:11). Thus, Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, influenced Luke’s Gospel, where Jesus gives more attention to Gentiles and marginalized outsiders than he does in any other Gospel. Luke, Acts, and Paul’s epistles preach the gospel to people working through the implications of God’s grace and his “all nations” mission.

Perspective #4: John’s Perspective

John was a Jew through and through, and he had a remarkable tenderness in relationships (John 13:23-25). His Gospel and epistles assume unfathomably profound associations between Old and New Testaments, while simultaneously simplifying the message with such clarity that anyone can understand it. Son of God. Believe. Know. Love. Come, Lord Jesus. These books preach the gospel to people who need to learn (or re-learn) the basics.

Read, Study, Preach

These four subdivisions don’t represent the only way to read the New Testament; they merely provide a framework I’ve found to be helpful. Each perspective is like a set of tracks for shipping the cargo of the gospel to a different group of people. As you read the New Testament, you may find it helpful to stay on one track for a time, or you may find it helpful to maintain balance in all four.

As you teach and share the gospel with others, you may want to consider which track is most likely to connect with your audience. Are they already familiar with God or not? Do they have basic Bible knowledge or not? Do they feel like a minority or majority in their environment? Are they likely to feel excluded, and so need more coaxing? Or are they more likely to feel included, and so need more confrontation?

And with a more diverse audience, we have a greater need to cycle through all four perspectives.

Question: Which perspective resonates the most with you?

Structure: the Shape of Meaning

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Sometimes the Bible’s meaning is plain and simple:

  • “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31, ESV).
  • “Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven” (Heb 8:1).

Many times, however, the meaning is not so plain:

  • “Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent” (Gen 9:20-21).
  • “Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus” (John 12:20-22).
Deborah Austin (2010), Creative Commons

Deborah Austin (2010), Creative Commons

When you’re studying a Bible passage and the point is not stated explicitly, one thing you can do is zoom out and observe the structure. Often, authors use structure to convey meaning, and we might not get the meaning unless we discern the shape of the text.

For example, Noah’s nakedness in the vineyard comes right after God dismantled and recreated the entire world (Gen 6-8). When we read of a naked man of the soil who consumes a fruit, and of a sin that enters God’s pristine world, alarm bells should go off in our heads, reminding us of Genesis 3. We suddenly realize that, though the Flood may have wiped people from the face of the earth, it could never wipe sin from their hearts. The structure of Genesis (cycles of creation-fall-new beginning) illuminates this strange episode for us.

For another example: John 12 concludes the first half of John’s Gospel. (Chapter 13 launches Act II, with most of the rest of the book describing the last 24 hours before Jesus’ death.) With the singling out of Philip and Andrew (John 12:22), we remember the beginning of the story, where these two men were some of the first disciples called by Jesus (John 1:40, 43). Only this time, Jesus doesn’t have to recruit anyone; disciples are coming to him. The initial “Come and see” (John 1:39, 46) has morphed into “Sir, we wish to see” (John 12:21). These bookends on John 1-12 (among others) show the tremendous impact Jesus’ years of ministry had on the world. This impact fulfills prophecies like Zech 8:20-23 and triggers Jesus’ troubled reflections on his looming death (John 12:23-33).

Over the next month or so, I’ll illustrate the value of structure through a study of the feeding of the 5,000. Through the context and structure of each Gospel, I hope to show that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John used the same event for a different purpose. Stay tuned!

Get to Know the Word this Year

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Rob Pongsajapan (2006), Creative Commons

Rob Pongsajapan (2006), Creative Commons

In my home office, there’s a fireproof safe where my wife and I keep our most precious possessions. While we partly use the safe for legal papers, we’ve filled most of it with the 45 love letters that document the development of our romance. This bundle of letters is more than a memento; it’s our story.

The story begins with a question mark. A love-struck young man composes a poetic thank-you note to a sweet girl who has done a nice thing for him. He ends the note with a simple question—a question clear enough to give her reason to write back, but vague enough to prevent any guilt should she choose not to. Either way, the presence of the question mark is indisputable, and with it, he takes a chance.

Thana Thaweeskulchai (2008), Creative Commons

Thana Thaweeskulchai (2008), Creative Commons

She chooses to write back, asking her own vague question in return. Queen’s knight to c3. Game on.

The remaining details will remain private, but I’m willing to share this much: We pored over those letters. We wrapped our hearts in them, and we squeezed every juicy jot and tittle for another drop of meaning. We didn’t read those letters because we had to, though I admit there was a sense of compulsion. We didn’t read those letters to learn about each other, though it’s true each delivery brought more information. Technically, what we did with those letters wasn’t exactly reading. It was more like fixating or indulging.

And all for what? We sought this one thing: to get to know each other. We wanted a relationship.

Similarly, you and I get to read the Bible to build our relationship with the God who wrote it. He already knows us, and he wants us to get to know him. He became a man to reconcile us to himself and live with us forever, and he left a book documenting the whole affair. “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3).

Sometimes we think we need a special encounter to know God. We seek a mountaintop experience where we can behold his glory and see him face to face. We want to hear his voice speak with clarity and power. We long to be wowed from on high.

The Apostle Peter had such an experience with Jesus, and he concluded that you and I don’t need to share it:

We were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place. (2 Peter 1:16-19)

The text isn’t clear whether the prophetic word is more sure than the mountaintop experience, or more sure than it would have been without the mountaintop experience (does the word trump the mountaintop, or is it confirmed by the mountaintop?). Either way, Peter says this word is sure. We don’t need the mountaintop; we need to pay more attention to the word that has already been spoken.

That’s why, when Paul wanted to introduce people to Jesus, he introduced them to the Bible (Acts 17:1-3). The apostles were clear that Jesus was the main point of the Bible (John 1:45, 5:39-40, Luke 24:44-49, 1 Peter 1:10-12).

We study the Bible to know Jesus and to help others know him.

Maybe you’ve never studied the Bible without a tour guide or commentary, and you want to learn the basics. Perhaps you know the basics but want to make them instinctive, like an athlete perfecting a skill through endless repetition. Or perhaps you already teach the Bible, but you do so intuitively, unsure of how to take what you do and package it up for wholesale distribution among your flock.

Whatever your situation, a simple and sensible Bible study method will help. This year, how can you be more intentional about both learning to study the Bible and teaching others to study it? Do you think it would be worth it to get to know the Word who is the Truth?