You Can't Defend What You Don't Know
By: Yana Conner
My grandmother once said to me, “Pumpkin, the only way to recognize a lie, is to know the truth.” I can’t remember why she needed to drop such wisdom on me, but I tucked those words into my back pocket. I pull them out whenever something rhythmically sounds good, but doesn’t intellectually make sense; or when something agrees with my flesh, but doesn’t sit well with my spirit.
The world, ruled by “the prince of the power of air,” is constantly trying to indoctrinate us to its opinions, feels, and worldview (Ephesians 2:2). It does this through clever hashtags, asserting new cultural norms like “cancel culture,” and pursuing justice apart from a relationship with a just God. As Christians, our task, in response to God’s grace, is to present ourselves to God as a living sacrifice by breaking free from our entanglement with the world's prescription for life, and by renewing our minds so we can discern God’s will (Romans 12:1-3).
The Bible is God’s will put on display. In his grace, God has revealed his good and perfect will to us. We don’t have to go searching for it or wait for it to come to us by way of a mighty, rushing wind. It’s here. Sixty-six books covering the story of all eternity. One thousand one hundred sixty-nine chapters putting his beautiful character on display. More than thirty-thousand verses unfolding his plan for humanity. You don’t have to wonder. You don’t have to fret. You just have to read.
Last month, the American Bible Society, in partnership with the Barna Group, reported that less than one in ten (9%) of American Christians read their Bible daily.[1] You may think the expectation to spend daily time in God’s Word is extreme, but when you compare that to the two-hours the average American spends on social media each day, it’s concerning. That’s one hundred and twenty minutes of daily being caught up in the narrative of others while spending none in the Holy Scriptures. In 2017, LifeWay Research reported that only eleven percent of Christians have actually read it from Genesis to Revelation, and most only pick up the Bible when in crisis.[2] However, even then, they shake the Bible like an eight-ball to get an encouraging word to get them through the day.
Y’all.
Our Bible reading sucks!
How are we supposed to know the hope we’ve been called to apart from the Scriptures (Ephesians 2:18)?
How do we become acquainted with the depths of his compassion for us apart from soaking in the stories of the Old Testament? His grace shines best when it’s set against Israel’s persistent disobedience.
How can we deconstruct the fallacies of culture without a constant meditation on the infallible Word of God?
Jesus’ little brother, Jude, who lived during a time when people worked around the clock to either reinterpret or deny the gospel, wrote a one-page letter to Christians with one goal in mind. His plea was this: “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). He saw with his own two eyes how Christians were emotionally tossed around because they lacked a firm foundation in the truth. His heart ached as he saw men and women walk away from the faith because someone knowingly or unknowingly lied to them about God's goodness and led them to wonder if God was truly for them.
Recent events and questions of whether or not Christianity is a religion of the colonizer has many Black and Brown people wondering the same. Is Christianity a White Man’s Religion? Are Black people the chosen, but cursed people of God? Does God care about injustice? They've got questions. Do you have answers?
A wise man, John Onwuchekwa, once said, "We don't just read the Bible for ourselves. We read our Bibles for others." We don't just curl up in a corner for a quiet time to refresh our own souls, but we also sit still with the Scriptures to bring refreshment to the souls of others. We do it so we can provide a defense for our countercultural lives. However, you can’t defend what you don’t know.
In order to “contend for the faith,” you must know it. And in order to know it, you, at the very least, have to read it. But, the psalmist in Psalm 119 calls you up to more. He invites you to meditate on God's testimonies daily, become a faithful student of his commands, and allow his laws to saturate your entire being.
But where do we start?
Pray. It's very easy to read an article like this and feel condemned, but condemnation isn't from God. It produces guilt that will likely result in you either trying to fix your lack of Bible reading problem in your own strength to gain God's favor or make yourself feel like a better Christian. That's not the goal. My prayer is that you would sit still before the Lord and allow his Spirit to speak to you about your relationship with God's Word. Allow Him to expose why your desire for his Word has waned over the years. Ask him to convict you where needed. Then, ask him for help. Over and over in Psalm 119, the psalmist prays that Yahweh will keep him from wandering from the Scripture's commands, teach him the principles of his Word, and grow his affection for the word. He's not a Christian that has it all together. He is ever aware of his need for God's help in desiring, reading, and understanding God's Word.
It's also very easy to read an article like this and say, "It don't take all that!" You are resistant to create a daily rhythm of reading God's Word because you don’t want to become legalistic. I don't want that for you either, but don’t mistake putting forth effort to know God as trying to earn God's favor or intentionality as "doing too much." Every relationship requires effort and intentionality. God has revealed himself to us through Scripture. Prayer and listening to the Spirit is essential to the Christian walk, but only through fact-checking with the Scriptures will we know if our prayers line up with God's will and if what we heard was really God's voice. Da' Spirit is always in alignment with God's Word (John 16:13-15). #FACTS
Take the Next Step: Progress, not perfection, is the goal. You will never be perfect until Christ returns. However, as Christians, we should be moving in a direction. Day by day, our prayer should be that our lives are coming into further alignment with Christ. The same is true with God's Word. The question isn't necessarily are you reading your Bible every day or even if you've read the Bible from cover to cover. You can be doing all those things and still be far from the Lord. The better question is: Are you growing in your affections for God's Word?
Your affection for God's Word will grow as you spend time with it. If you've been reading God's Word daily, maybe the next step for you is to pick a book of the Bible to do an in-depth study. If you've never really read the Bible and don't know where to start, start reading a shorter book like Ephesians or Colossians. And, if you've been cherry-picking around the Bible for a while, maybe it's time to read it from beginning to end. Leviticus and Numbers will be hard, but I believe in you. Plus, there are some gems in there.
Don't Do It Alone: God has given us three gifts for living out our faith as Christians in a fallen world. He's given us his Word, his Spirit, and his people. Ask the Spirit to reveal God's truth to you and link up with other Christians to read and study God's Word together. Pick a reading plan on the Bible app or download a bible study resource on Amazon to do together. I highly recommend the Jude 3 Project's curriculum, Through Eyes of Color. In the first lesson, you'll find a Bible Study method resource to help you grow in your understanding of God's Word for yourself and others.
[1] American Bible Society, “American Bible Society Releases 10th Annual ‘State of the Bible’ Survey, Show How COVID-19 Has Impacted Religion and Scripture Engagement,” American Bible Society News, July 22, 2020, https://news.americanbible.org/blog/entry/corporate-blog/american-bible-society-releases-10th-annual-state-of-the-bible-survey.
[2] Bob Smietana, “LifeWay Research: Americans Are Fond of the Bible, Don’t Actually Read It,” LifeWay Research, April 25, 2017, https://lifewayresearch.com/2017/04/25/lifeway-research-americans-are-fond-of-the-bible-dont-actually-read-it/.
Yana Conner is a proud St. Louis native residing in Durham, NC. She recently graduated with a Master of Divinity in Christian Ministry from Southeastern Theological Seminary. She also is a staff writer with Gospel-Centered Discipleship and the Docent Research Group where she helps develop articles and Bible studies that help people think well about faith and culture.