It's Not Enough to Know the Bible

Many of us have come across the Bible thumping, Scripture quoting, way-too-intense, former military guy who makes us feel like we have to do push-ups to make God proud.

I knew a guy like this in high school. He was a leader in a local youth group. He was gruff, and I'm certain that he really loved the Lord, but I'm not certain if he loved anyone else, even himself.

Or maybe you've run across the Christian who tells you no other Bibles are inspired except for the King James Version only. They act as if every other Christian is missing the boat, and doesn't know what God is really trying to say.

Or more commonly nowadays, maybe you've seen a Christian leader post a quote or Scripture on twitter only to get "Jesus Juked" (a term that means someone responds in a rude way that causes them to look waaaay more spiritual. Using Jesus and their own spirituality to put another person down). Mark Driscoll, a Pastor in Seattle posted about this recently: "I bet if Jesus were on FB or Twitter today some chucklehead in Bible college educated beyond his intelligence would try & correct his posts."

I have news for these people. It's not enough to just know the Bible.

Don't get me wrong. The Bible is the place to start, but if we only know the Bible and don't know how to communicate it in a way that others will understand, recieve and love the Word of God, we only have half the equation figured out.

Imagine a missionary going to a foreign culture, with unusual traditions and strange smells and all. They traverse the globe by plane and by boat to the interior of the land, and settle in with the natives. But instead of learning the language, they simply preach the Word of God in English. Isn't it enough that they know the Bible? Isn't it enough that they preach the inerrant Word of God? Doesn't the Bible speak for itself? Of course not.

The good missionary studies the language and learns the culture for months or even years until they can communicate with the local people, understand their ways and share from their turf. Without this time-consuming work of understanding and putting themselves in other's shoes, their work would be rendered ineffective and useless.

All of us at varying degrees need to learn our culture, or the culture of those we love and seek to share with. We need the spirit of the missionary that would desire to communicate in ways that those around us would recieve better.

If we don't know how the Word of God, we have nothing to share. If we don't know how to communicate the Word of God effectively with those around us, our sharing will be ineffective. We need both.

People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care.