"I just want to know what the Bible means for me!" 

[She said that to me just yesterday.  So I wrote her the following letter this morning. It is almost verbatim, although I have removed her name.]

My dear friend,

You bring up a great and important concern—for all of us. Me included.  The big question is:  What’s the best way to get there?

I have an answer:  Prepare myself for that. 

If I—and I’m talking about myself here—if I think this will happen all by itself, I’m kidding myself.  If I think the Bible is like Aladdin’s lamp—I can rub up against it a time or two and the Holy Spirit will pop out to grant me 3 revelations—well, we all know that if I did that, I’d be deluding myself.   (Now, you did not say or imply this—indeed, you asked a good and genuine question!)

So, please don’t think I’m saying anything “at” you.  If this is “at” anyone, it’s “at” me, myself.  I might say things like, “I don’t want to build the car, I just want to drive it!”  Or, about the Bible, “I don’t want to become a scholar, I just want know what it means to me!”  I get it.  I’ve heard this a lot.

So, let’s think about this. 

It’s Saturday afternoon, and I say to myself, “I want a nice meal that makes me feel good.  Yes, I want it to be good for me, but I still want it to make me feel good.”

So, I go to the pantry, and I find only a few broken chips in a nearly empty bag—oh, and some crackers.  I open the fridge, and the shelves are empty. No milk, no meat, no anything.  Yes, I can go to a restaurant—but then there’s still no food for tomorrow.

So I say to myself, “I don’t want to have to get dressed, drive to the store, get a cart with a wabbly wheel, walk the grocery store aisles, survey the shelves, pick up items, read the labels, fill my cart, check out all my own food, sack it, load it into my car, bring it home, and then put it all away…I don’t wanna do all that!  I just want something good to eat!”

Now, what would the little red hen say to me about that? 

(I know what my mom would say:  “Get your lazy self up and get to the store—and quit whining!”)

It has become a common mantra in many churches:  “I don’t want all the details, I just want to know what the Bible means for me!”  A lot of people say this.  What it means is, people are frustrated!  

So, here’s the truth.  If I really wanna know what the Bible means for me—if that is what I really want—then I need to prepare for that. Otherwise, I won’t find anything but broken chips and crackers.  No one has to become a scholar to read the Bible.  But if we won’t even go to the store, how can we expect to eat?

So how do we prepare for it?  The truth is the Bible is a lot bigger and more involved than most people want to think.  They want to think that because its “The Bible” it ought to be free and it ought to be more or less “work-free.” 

Doesn't work that way.  And that’s why IABC is here.  To help you prepare for it. 

You ask a good question and so I wrote this for you.  But I’m going to turn this into a blog post.  So, when you see it, I want you to know that you inspired it.

My appreciation to my new friend.