God says... "You were never meant to understand My Word on your own."

By Jason V (Ponderings of a Pilgrim Pastor)

Be honest: Have you ever read a passage of Scripture and thought, “What in the world is going on here?”  Have you ever thought that maybe God never intended you to be able to understand it on your own.

The Lone Ranger is a quintessentially American style of hero.  The iconic image of the lone gunman, enforcing the law against all odds, is one of our favorite images.  Bruce Willis picked up the Lone Ranger motif in his series of Die Hard movies and Kiefer Sutherland played that role of man-alone-against-all-odds as Jack Bauer in the hit TV series, 24.

In the Middle Ages, images of heroism and villainy were quite different.  The great heroes were those who were most loyal to their Lord or King and who stood with their brothers in arms.  The “Lone Rangers” were the black knights, who were almost always bad guys.  The knight who rode off into the forest alone was perhaps brave but also shifty, unreliable and not to be trusted.

As American Christians, we need to realize how much of our life of faith is shaped by our culture and not by God’s Word.  One example is the belief that every Christian can understand the Bible on his own.  God did not say that in His Word.  Ephesians 4:11-12 says, “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”

The apostles and prophets received God’s Word and wrote it down for us.  Evangelists proclaim the Gospel to unbelievers to bring them to Christ.  Pastors and teachers serve the church by preaching and teaching God’s Word.  Christ calls us to belong to His church, where we can each exercise our gifts in building up the whole body together.  Cut off and left on our own, we just don’t grow and thrive as God intended.

I am a pastor.  Each Sunday, I preach God’s Word and I never prepare on my own.  I consult the classic commentaries: Matthew Henry, John Gill, John Calvin, etc.  I also listen to sermons by other pastors: John Piper, Ligon Duncan, Sinclair Ferguson, etc.  I make my own careful study of the passage, too, but I do not just rely on my own insights.  I may have a seminary degree and years of training and practice, but I am not a Lone Ranger pastor.

Don’t be a Lone Ranger, Die Hard, Jack Bauer Christian:

1. Find a church that faithfully preaches and teaches the Bible as God’s Word.
2. Talk to the pastor and make sure he is faithful in studying the Bible each week with others- with commentators and pastors. 
3. If you don’t understand something in the Bible, ask your pastor or a trusted teacher in your church.  If they don’t know the answer, they may be able to point you to good resources.

We’re all in this together.  God has given us to each other as gifts for our mutual benefit.  Let’s not neglect or despise the gifts God has given. 

Jason is blessed to be married to a wonderful woman and to have three children (two boys, aged seven and four and a one year old baby girl). He serves as the Pastor of Faith Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Cheraw, SC and blogs over at Ponderings of a Pilgrim Pastor. He enjoys strong coffee, good books and nature walks with his family.