The recent convention of religious booksellers in Denver, Colorado, dis played thousands of volumes on every conceivable spiritual subject. New titles pour from the presses daily. Books dealing with personality problems, social issues, and Christian biographies are going to be big, the forecasters tell us. Christian magazines (including MINISTRY) vie for our time and attention. The use of electronic media by the church is in creasing rapidly (more on that subject in the January MINISTRY). Can a busy pastor in today's fast-paced religious world keep current and still find time for the Word of God?
I approach such a question wondering, "What words or thoughts can I, a mere man, set forth regarding the place and position God and His Word should hold in the life? How can I do justice to the exalted, central focus the Scriptures must command if we are to be God's messengers faithfully proclaiming His Word to the world?" Increasing daily is my concern to understand God's will and to allow Christ to be Lord of my own life—a concern, incidentally, that reaches beyond my own church to the Christian world in general.
Frankly, much of what I hear, see, or read of Christian communication seems to have very limited value in establishing and increasing my relationship to God. I confess that most Madison Avenue religious telecasts, with their gorgeous props and polished appeals for financial support, all too often focus my mind on the histrionics rather than on Christ and His Word. During auto travels, I tune in the religious radio broadcasts, only to be harangued and not helped more often than not. Attempts to reach the world with the gospel are commendable, but what must serious-minded non-Christians think when they see and hear some of the programs that claim to preach the gospel? The emotional excitement, the search for something new and startling, and the excessive emphasis on feeling detract from the truth as it is in Jesus.
Let me illustrate. Recently, a letter written by a Christian lay leader in an African country came to my desk. He spoke of his experience in a religious organization that majored in emotional experiences. In his own words, "I came out of a vibrant church, alive with the speaking of tongues, miracles seen often, emotional singing, tears of joy filling the eyes of the congregation, prophesying and spiritual interpretations, people slain by the Spirit, and people dancing with the power of the Spirit—to name but a few manifestations."
Yet, in spite of this intense and seemingly gratifying spiritual adventure, his search for a deeper experience led him to attend a Bible seminar in which the emphasis was on Scripture. His heart was touched in a different way than ever before, resulting in a penetrating study of the Bible. During the past nine years, this man has spent two hours every day searching the Word, in spite of his many duties as a lay leader in the church.
Initially his previous diet of emotional religious excitement left him feeling spiritually dead in his new program. It took several years before the Scriptures became a part of him, firmly establishing his relationship with God. He concluded his letter, "I have found calm and peace for my soul. Now my experience is based not on emotion, but on the words of the Bible—a 'Thus saith the Lord.' "
"Calm and peace" certainly must be considered an emotional experience. But notice that his experience of calmness and peace is a product of a faith solidly rooted in Scripture, not the cause of that faith. The gospel loses its dynamic power when the Scriptures are set aside or used as an adjunct to something else. To subordinate God's Word to feeling is as foolish as selecting a used car on the basis of soft seats rather than mechanical condition.
Because what a person believes controls what a person does, the contents of a church's message to the world must be given primary attention. The religious philosophies that have the strongest hold on the heart and mind are responsible for men's attitudes and actions. Man's character can never be elevated one iota above his concepts of truth and holiness. A man's ideas of God mold his own character. If one believes that God has neither love for nor interest in man, he will have little sincere regard for his fellow men. Those who believe that the Holy Spirit has little or no influence on human behavior will certainly fail to experience His power in their own lives.
Jesus declared to the people in His day, "Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures" (Matt. 22:29). It is no coincidence that the decadent moral conditions in our society have paralleled to a large degree the weakened influence of the Bible, as it has been robbed of its power by being ignored, critically dissected, or completely rejected. When Israel elevated the Word of God by conforming to its commands, she prospered.
The coming storm connected with the return of our Lord is upon us. Today is preparation time. Our first business as ministers must be to search the Scriptures diligently every day, not to prove a cherished point, but to find out what God's will is, and to order our lives accordingly. Ours cannot be an imaginary, fanciful religion of feeling or form; only a mighty cathedral of living truth based on the bedrock of the Bible is sufficient to control and guide our lives.
I am weary of hearing gimmicky sermons, philosophical frolicking, and repetitious twaddle. I want to hear the Word expounded, accompanied by a divine manifestation that brings sensitivity to the conscience and new life to the soul. Let me hear, not the superficial compliment of the untouched ("Oh, pastor, what a marvelous preacher you are!"), but rather, "Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?" (Luke 24:32).
To be sure, we have those in our pews who love to have their ears scratched. But could it be that there are some pulpits filled with Herods, who after their orations eagerly listen for the cry, "It is the voice of a god, and not of a man" (Acts 12:22)?
Preacher, remember, in every audience or congregation are many who sincerely cry out for the word of truth, for the presence of the living God in their lives. Don't feed them tradition, speculative theories, and specious interpretations, but rather let them hear the voice of the Eternal One speaking to them through your study of the Scriptures.
God has not preserved His Word through the centuries for us to ignore or misuse. His Word is a light, a two-edged sword, a fortress, a refuge, a hidden treasure, the good seed, an unerring guide, our richest heritage, an educator, a friend, food for the soul, the rule of life, the foundation of our faith, the book above all books, the bread of life, our chart and compass, the alpha and omega of knowledge.
At the risk of sounding fanatical, I wonder what power would come into the church, what vibrant, active, witnessing, obedient Christians our members might become, if we spent 95 percent of our reading and study time with the Scriptures alone, and only 5 percent with all the rest of the religious literature pouring from the presses. If the truth were known, I suspect we would discover that presently these percentages are reversed for many of us. A thorough study of the Word will not necessarily exclude the reading of other religious material. But that reading material that diverts the mind from God and His Word will be laid aside.
In a Christian publication that came to my attention not long ago, one article featured a young man who by his own estimation has read some 800 science-fiction books. He was once a Christian but has since left the church. Yet he emphatically denies that his reading habits are responsible, even partially, for his turning away from religion. One can hardly fail to wonder whether this young man would not still be part of the Christian body had he spent his time with the sixty-six books of Scripture rather than saturating his mind with science fiction.
Surely we can readily see that one of the major reasons why our world faces an overwhelming spiritual crisis is the woeful ignorance of the Scriptures prevailing today. In Old Testament times, God's messengers and prophets were often killed in an effort to silence their witness; today we can accomplish the same objective by ignoring their writings.
Isaiah's Messianic prophecy, "For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you" (Isa. 60:2, R.S.V.; cf. chap. 9:1, 2), was fulfilled at the first coming of Christ. A dearth of spiritual discernment, accumulating for centuries, had now reached its nadir. To a large degree, tradition had replaced the Scriptures. Required learning emphasized nonessentials and elevated external forms.
From the realms of indescribable glory to the enveloping folds of darkest shadows Jesus came to dispel the gloom of misapprehension and misunderstanding regarding God. Speaking of the Christ, John says, "In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not" (John 1:4, 5). Jesus Himself announced, "I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness" (chap. 12:46). Christ was light to the people through His words and actions.
In His famous bread-of-life message (see John 6), He called upon His hearers to eat His flesh and drink His blood. Strange as it must have sounded in the ears of His hearers, He underlined the importance of His invitation by declaring that unless they ate His flesh and drank His blood, they could have no life now or for eternity. The message is clear. We receive His life by receiving His Word. "'The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life' " (verse 63, R.S.V.).
The principle expressed in Hosea's day is still applicable today. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children" (Hosea 4:6, R.S.V.).
This is not an arbitrary act of God. It is the obvious result when one feeds his mind on nonessentials, good as they may be, to the exclusion of a deep, thorough knowledge of the Scriptures.
A word of caution is in order here. Paul tells us that spiritual things are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:14). It is possible to have a very intimate knowledge of the Bible, including the ability to read it in Hebrew and Greek, and yet not know the meaning of the Scriptures, or the Author of the Scriptures. Christ, as the Saviour of the world, stands as the key that unlocks both Old Testament and New Testament doors. Furthermore, if we do not have a constant dependence on the Holy Spirit to quicken our faculties, the Scriptures will remain a sealed book or, even worse, become twisted and garbled through our misunderstanding. A knowledge of truth depends on sincerity of purpose, not on the strength of our intellect. The great paradox of Scripture is that at the same time it is both profound and simple. The person of limited intellectual ability who approaches its study with an honest desire to learn God's will and a dependence on the Holy Spirit's aid will know more of truth than will the person of large mental capacity who comes to the Scriptures in his own strength and without a sense of its importance to his personal existence.
When one understands the grand purpose of Scripture, and realizes that through its pages his mind is brought into contact with the Infinite, he will covet every moment possible to spend in its study. Such an one will consider his fellowship with the Eternal One through Bible study a privilege and honor—never drudgery.
Overshadowing all other appeals for making the Scriptures the center of our study life is the tremendous purpose for which God revealed Himself to the human race through His Word—the restoration of His image in the human soul. This restoration is the focus of every passage of Scripture. Thus it is that the key that unlocks the Bible is Jesus Christ, Author of the science of redemption.
Can the busy pastor keep current in the fast-paced religious world of today and still find time for the Word of God? I would submit that in no other way can the busy pastor of today remain current than by making the Word of God the center around which all else in his fast-paced life revolves. The Word alone provides the context by which he can assimilate and evaluate all else. Preacher friend, I appeal to you, as I appeal to myself: Make the Scriptures your constant companion; become known as a man of the Book; be utterly ruthless in uprooting nonessentials and carving time from your schedule for the study of God's Word; let it be common knowledge that here is the secret of your ministry.
To open the pages of the Bible is to be ushered into the presence of Him whom to know is life eternal. To open the pages of the Bible is to breathe, if only briefly, the rarefied atmosphere of heaven untainted by sin. To open the pages of the Bible is to see God's hand drawn aside, revealing vistas of a new and better world, a new and better life in which all that we have dreamed and hoped and longed for in our most exalted moments is seen as gloriously possible.
—J.R.S.
