My enemies will run with this title. That's alright. The message of this post is important.
We leaders and followers in religious formations must stay on our toes in alertness to the Spirit of God. We cannot tolerate the human erosion of Holy Spirit input and outflow. Yet, truthfully, I am so susceptible to coasting day in and day out with a dab of spiritual engagement.
The churchy response that we go by the Bible borders on being obnoxious and insincere. True, we go by some of the Bible. Indeed, it is important, honorable, and responsible to go by it. However, when such a comment is made it usually has another unmentioned connotation: we go by everything the Bible teaches.
I say, not hardly.
The Word of God is both holy and eternal. It truly is the well which rushes new life into the veins of the body of Christ. Its glory cannot be measured. Its depth will never be fully explored. And its extensive Truth will never be completely fathomed.
Our time will come to an end on earth before the Word of God is fully embedded and completely known by us individually.
Consider three of the biggies in God's earthling tenure: Moses, Paul, and John.
Moses was not allowed to look at God else he would be fried on the spot. Evidently sheer sight of God is something man cannot handle. Walking with God is more than referencing Acts 2:38 and pointing to the silence of scriptures.
Paul was caught up into the third heaven and didn't know if it was himself or another; he just couldn't tell. Paul didn't know who he was, where he was, nor if he was. Does that sound like this man had a complete grasp on kingdom essentials?
John was on an island and when he saw God he slumped as dead. The size, the power, the presence of the One; who can take it all in?
I love the Bible, learn from the Bible, and am all for increasingly learning Bible things. One of the major tenets of our faith is to have a relationship with the Living God.
Therefore, I want to point out that we in the church are far too inclined to smugly sit in pews during Bible classes and compare ourselves with other studiers as if we are the ones who truly go by the Bible.
We, ourselves, have just begun. May we be thrilled that we, too, have a great deal to learn. No one and no group has wrapped up, conclusively, all the Word has to say.
Enjoy it; but don't go through life bragging about the very few things of God we have thus far learned.
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