When Does The Bible Become An Idol?

 

 

 

 

“Careful, that’s a slippery slope.”

That’s a phrase I’ve heard a time or two, mostly from well-intentioned friends, and almost always as a way to express disapproval regarding how I searched the Scriptures…

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” John 5:37-40

Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees when He said this, the experts in all things scripture.

What happens when we search the Scriptures in search of eternal life? It’s not long before we start defining the words on the pages as “infallible” and “inerrant.”

And in my experience, an inerrant approach to scripture is a slippery slope into idolatry.

And yes, I smiled mischievously as I wrote the phrase “slippery slope,” but I believe it to be true.

Jesus, the Word made Flesh, is Life; and in whom we come alive. We can discover Him in scripture, but to conflate the two as the same is to make the bible a god.

In John 5 I think Jesus was essentially saying, “You’ve searched the Scriptures, the Old Testament, the law and the prophets, you know it inside out; you’ve memorized it word for word, and yet you’ve completely botched the interpretation. Your approach to scripture as a source of everlasting life has blinded you to everlasting life. You have elevated scripture above love and your idolatry has cut you off from intimacy.”

To me, the Pharisees perceived scripture much like the church today, through the religious spirit of inerrancy. And it blinded them to intimacy.

An inerrant approach to scripture trades intimacy for certainty. And it’s a cruel joke because the only certainty we can have through an inerrant approach to scripture is that Satan is powerful, humanity is depraved, God’s salvation is predicated on our compliance, and most of us aren’t gonna make it.

I would like to suggest that an inerrant or infallible approach to scripture is one of the greatest stumbling blocks to experiencing intimacy with God. It literally cut us off from recognizing the whole point of scripture; Love, sacrificial, unconditional, transformational, measureless, always good, always restoring, ressurection Love.

If scripture isn’t taking us into a deeper revelation of God’s love, if we aren’t discovering our union in Christ, we are searching it wrong.

What if we searched the scriptures as a witness of Jesus so we might awaken to the eternal life that resides within us?

What if the whole point of scripture is to recognize Jesus in every person that stands in front of us?

What if, “in experiencing that He first loved,” we love God with all our heart soul mind, and strength, and our neighbors as ourselves. What if “all the law and prophets, all of scripture, were to be searched toward this end? (see 1 John 4:19 & Matt 22:37-40)

Praying happy searching and eternal life over you today. And regardless of the slope, may you always find your footing in His measureless love.


Jason Clark
is a writer, producer, speaker, and lead communicator at A Family Story ministries. His mission is to encourage sons and daughters to grow sure in the love of an always-good heavenly Father. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children, Madeleine, Ethan, and Eva.

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE…

MICHAEL MCELYEA / You Love Me, But You Don’t Know Who I Am

You love me, but you don’t know who I am. Those are the words God spoke to Michael several years ago and it took him on a journey into measureless love, grace, and union with an always good, never leaving, no distance or separation, Triune God. With grace and joy the conversation dove into the two greatest lies on the planet, Penal Substitution and Eternal Conscious Torment.

Does Hell Exist?

I don’t believe in hell as a place of eternal torment and punishment. I don’t believe in punishment. I do believe hell exists after this life because I believe God is love and love requires that we are free to choose…

Well Done, Tire

We are designed to live a life of risk and trust, to do valiant acts of faith, to live out our radical acts of surrender, to leave it “all out on the field,” all for the glory of our King, so that when we get to heaven we will experience in those 3 beautiful seconds, those 6 stunning words. We are all living for the, “Well done.”

A Religious Ass

When I go to sleep I’m His favorite! When I wake up I’m still His favorite! Whether I behave well or fail miserably I’m still His favorite! This union, oh this union is the game changer! Christ in me and me in Him!

The End of Empty

Need is the final singular truth by which our world operates. While need is the very substance of our existence, it has no place in God’s reality.

DAVID TENSEN / YOU ARE NOT ALONE

Trauma, pain, empathy like Jesus, and healing for the oppressed, misunderstood, lost, or broken; in this podcast David Tensen shares how we are loved and not alone. Addressing how shame and condemnation are compounded by religion, the guys talked specifically about abortion and the LGBTQ community with an invitation to love like Jesus, through our union with God and reconciliation.

Sovereign Love

God Is (Not) In Control / Six-Part Teaching Series FREE
Learn More

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This

Share This

Share this post with your friends!