Where are the Bereans?

The old joke among seminarians that "I went to cemetery" is really funny because, well, it's true.  Seminary, to which I went for three years, holds many pitfalls, among them spiritual pride, intellectualization of faith, factionalism among conservatives and loss of faith in the reality of God among liberals.  However, in my detoxification over the last few years, another danger I did not notice at first has been coming more and more to light for me, that I thought to share because it relates to all who seek to follow Christ sincerely.  That danger is to box the Bible into theology rather than let the Bible shape our theology.

I used to read the Bible through in a year.  For 10 years I did this, faithfully, and then I went to seminary.  There, I read all about the Bible, learned the original languages and translated the Bible, and read books commenting on the books that commented on the Bible.  But rarely did teachers open the Bible and challenge us to read it for ourselves.

The end result of this experience was, that I came out thinking I knew enough about the Bible to not read it as much.  I had been filled, and now I just needed to fill others with what had been given me, and seek to live by the light I had been given.

But recently, I read the biography of C.T. Studd, pioneer missionary to Africa.  One striking feature of his life was his copious Bible-reading, especially in his waning years.  He was a man of one book, rising at 4 a.m. each day to read for several hours and enjoy God speaking to him through the Word.  So that he would not be influenced by his own notes in the margins, he got a new Bible each year, the RSV, and started reading all over again, with an open heart, asking God to speak to him in the early, quiet hours.  His theology was constantly being shaped by the Word and Spirit, not the other way around.

I wonder, do many of us, like me, come to the Bible with so many pre-conceived notions that we can't hear what it is saying?  (If we read it at all!)  Have we ceased to become like the Bereans in Acts, who Luke commends as "noble" for going home and "searching the Scriptures" to see if the message Paul had for them was true?  Are we seeking truth?  Or, are we seeking confirmation for what we already believe to be true?

This year, let us sit down with open hearts, in the early or late hours, alone with God.  Let us open our hearts and ask God to teach, for his Spirit to lead, and may the Spirit guide us into all truth. (John 16:13)  Then, our theology will be shaped by the living Word, and not the other way around.