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Rightly Handling the Word of Truth

It was the 20th century author and playwright George Bernard Shaw, who opined, “No man ever believes that the Bible means what it says: He is always convinced that it says what he means.” Ouch! That smarts! Yet as prickly and hyperbolic this generalization is, we do well to sit with it for a while, for perhaps we’ve been influenced by those who have distorted God’s words into something different than what He said and meant. Or maybe, just maybe we’ve twisted them ourselves. Bending the Word to our comfort level or subjecting it to flawed human judgment is not new; it is as ancient as one cataclysmic encounter in the Garden of Eden. “Did God really say . . . ?”1

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul reminded them, “I . . . did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”2 The apostle’s teaching “[did] not go beyond what is written,”3 and he taught his hearers to follow his example. Yet in his follow-up Corinthian correspondence, Paul apparently felt compelled to reiterate the matter: “We . . . do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.”4 Apparently, others had, for in his farewell letter to the Church, Peter noted, “There are some things in [Paul’s letters] that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.”5 It is a dire condition, our weak-kneed tendency to conform God’s Word to the ways and wiles of man or to subordinate it to fickle human judgment. To the contrary, ours is to incline our heart to His ways, to subject our will to His authority, and to comport our understanding to His wisdom. “Thy Word is truth.”6

Paul warned his understudy, Timothy, “The time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”7 So it has been, and so it continues. Paul’s exhortation to Timothy, then, is equally timeless: “Study to [show] thyself approved unto God, a workman that [need] not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”8 This is our call; this is God’s will for us. So, pray that the Spirit of God speak daily through the Word of God. Consider the context into which Scripture is spoken, yet recognize also that some truth spoken into context is timeless in application. Learn from trusted teachers. And rejoice freely and securely in the flawless Word of God.

“Every word of God proves true.”9 Yes, Father, this is our confession. Send Your Spirit to lead us away from falsehood and into the light of truth. In Christ we pray. Amen.

1 Genesis 3:1 NIV
2 1 Corinthians 2:1-2 ESV
3 1 Corinthains 4:6 ESV
4 2 Corinthians 4:2 NIV
5 2 Peter 3:16 ESV
6 John 17:17 KJV
7 2 Timothy 4:3-4 ESV
8 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV
9 Proverbs 30:5 ESV

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Tomorrow’s News Today

Our companies’ CEO once shared this advice to a gathered group of employees: “Never do anything you wouldn’t want to read on the front page of tomorrow’s newspaper.” It was a call to bring our assorted thoughts and feelings into balance, so to make good, ethical decisions, whether in our actions or our speech. So far this year, our posts have focused on living responsibly under the authority of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Last week, we directed our thoughts to knowing Scripture and, in its life-giving, transformational power, speaking it as called in the moment. But what about our speech? Memorizing and voicing the Word is one thing, but mastering our words is quite another.

Words are like garage sale merchandise: We cannot take them back. Constructive or destructive, once released they will beget what they will beget. James says we are perfectly adept at speaking both: “With [the tongue] we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.”1 The apostle adds, “No human being can tame the tongue”2 and “If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourselves, and your religion is worthless.”3 Oy vey! Uff da! And oh, my! Where do we turn?

Hope begins in the heart. Jesus speaks: “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of the evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”4 Then how do we incline our hearts to good and away from evil? First, understand the grind of self-will does not produce the fruit of self-control, rather God has given us a spirit of self-control.5 Self-control emerges from us as we yield to His Spirit’s presence in us.6 Then in this freedom and power, we follow the model, “For the grace of God has appeared [in Christ Jesus], bringing salvation for all people, training us . . . to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives.”7 In the love of Christ and the power of the Spirit, “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God”8

Make it be good news that headlines tomorrow’s paper. (Or newsfeed.)

“If you want to enjoy life and see may happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies.” — 1 Peter 3:10 NLT

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”9 In Christ I pray. Amen.

1 James 3:9-10 ESV
2 James 3:8 ESV
3 James 1:26 NLT
4 Luke 6:45 ESV, emphasis added
5 2 Timothy 1:7, emphasis added
6 Galatians 5:22-23
7 Titus 2:11-12 ESV, emphasis added  
8 James 1:18-20 ESV
9 Psalm 19:14 NASB

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Knowing Scripture, Speaking Life

My friend Rich has committed his life to befriending international students attending U.S. colleges and universities and sharing with them the love of God and the truth of His Son, Jesus Christ. Rich is warm, upbeat, and outgoing by nature, yet what has influenced me most is how he responds to students’ questions, particularly the “zingers” meant to challenge the existence of God or the perfection of His character. Virtually without exception, he cites the Word, always with an engaging smile, “The Bible teaches us that . . . ” Think of it as Peter’s exhortation in action: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”1 Then as Rich speaks Scripture, most students pause to ponder, as though stirred from an inner slumber at the waking call of truth. The Spirit of God is at work in them.

Consider God’s Word. Its effectiveness is unstoppable, for God says, “it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”2 Its precision is irrefutable, for “The word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.3 Its reliability is impeccable, for “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.4 Indeed, God’s Word is life itself, for “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”6

Then if the Scripture is so powerful, life-giving and transformational, shouldn’t we speak it, as well? And if we are to speak it, isn’t it best that we apply ourselves to knowing it? Personally, I’m not great at memorizing Scripture verbatim, for I have, to quote a friend, a “quick forgetter.” But given the authority of the Word and its fruit, I think it is incumbent on us to apply ourselves as His servants. Paul exhorts us still today: “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”7

Then before our Scripture memorization odyssey takes us to different verses, let’s launch here together: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” 1 John 4:10 NIV

May the Spirit stir its hearers from their slumber.

Father, Your Word is truth and it is life. Work in us the desire to learn it and the resolve to speak it as Your Spirit leads us. In Christ we pray. Amen.

1 1 Peter 3:15 NIV
2 Isaiah 55:11 NIV
3 Hebrews 4:12 NLT
4 2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV
5 John 6:63 ESV
6 Matthew 4:4 ESV, cf Deuteronomy 8:3
7 2 Timothy 2:15 ESV