Leaving Beyond – Grounded In Scripture

“The Bible is a book to be read, studied, and understood, not just listened to through another’s words.” ~ J. C. Ryle

I remember my first women’s Bible study group. We were a very small group and we met in someone’s home. One lady would drive about an hour to come meet with us and teach us. I was a baby Christian. I had no idea how to study my Bible, but I wanted to learn everything there was to learn.

Little did I know that what was called “Bible study” was really our learning from a well-respected and very popular teacher of that time—someone I’d later learn had many red flags. I had bought my workbook and couldn’t wait to gather with the other ladies and discuss what we had learned from our guided questions and answers. We came together, prayed, and then sat in front of a TV where we listened to Beth Moore teach us what she said God had revealed to her.

I was so inspired by her. I hung on every word she said. I was amazed at how much she knew and how intimate a relationship she seemed to have with God. I wanted that too. I was doe-eyed, gullible, and Biblically illiterate. What I didn’t realize then was that I was not learning what Scripture says, how to read my Bible, or how to be discerning. I was learning how to hear God outside of Scripture—and that if I wanted a relationship with God like Beth’s, I needed to be willing to be thought crazy in order to have such a relationship. To be thought such was admirable.

In one teaching, I heard her talk about an old man she saw out in public and how she said God told her to go brush his hair. I heard many other stories that sounded strange and seemed to have no real Gospel-centered or Christ-centered point to them. But she had already taught me not to question the experience—just to be obedient to whatever I felt like God was telling me to do, no matter how crazy. If I questioned it, then I’d quench the Spirit and miss out on an intimate relationship with God.

So, I learned very early how not to study my Bible correctly. I learned to obey whatever I felt in my heart, because that was supposed to be God speaking to me—no matter how strange it seemed. That, according to Beth Moore, was what it looked like to have a relationship with God.

Later, I would learn how to correctly study my Bible. I’d learn how to discern truth from error biblically. I’d learn what a real relationship with God looks like. And I’d learn that Beth Moore hadn’t taught me anything worth holding on to.

I was discipled very early on, but it was in false teaching—and it only got worse from there. Later, God would open my eyes to all those false teachings, and it was a very painful experience and loss. But it was worth it! Now, what I have to hold on to is solid, and when tested, it stands firm. The truth does not fear being tested.

Many today are discipled and instructed, but it is with closed Bibles. They may be told that they will go through a book of the Bible, but they are not actually opening their Bibles, going verse by verse through the text, and hearing what God says. They are gathering around books, workbooks, and TV screens. They are not learning how to study their Bible so they can see if what they are being taught is true.

I’m not saying all workbooks are false, or all study materials are bad. But if you have never learned how to correctly study your Bible, you have no way of knowing if it is true or if it is false. You may assume it’s true because they use Christian terminology and cite Scripture. But not everyone who does so is actually bringing out of the text what it means. There are many false teachers.

We must learn how to study our Bible so we may be able to test all things—even our favorite teachers.

Dear saint, learn how to study your Bible. It is one of your greatest weapons against Satan’s devices.

Grace and Peace, y’all
Soli Deo Gloria

April J. Buchanan