Diving Deep into Scripture: An Introduction

© Can Stock Photo / EpicStockMedia

The earliest memory I have involves both joy and pain. My father committed early to teaching me to swim. According to him, I was swimming by 9 months and diving off the diving board at the Beeland Park pool by 2 years. As early as 4 years old, I was diving from the high dive and loving it. I don't really remember any of that, but one particular instance on the high dive does stick out in my mind with vivid detail. I remember getting to the top rung of the high dive and slipping. I fell and landed flat of my back on the concrete. Yet, even with that experience, my love for swimming and even the high dive was never dampened. I've always loved the deep. I'm drawn to the deep end of the pool, sailing on the open water, and any adventure into the unknown. I'm not sure if this is related, but I have also always loved the deeper things of the Christian faith. In fact, there have been times when I've gladly dived in while my friends and fellow church members have been reluctant to follow.

But, truth be told, we all want to know some deeper truth about Scripture. I mean, Scripture holds the answers to the deepest questions of our existence: the meaning of life, the origins of sin, the hope of salvation, and even the hope of the future. Unfortunately, the average Christian can often be resistant to diving deeper into Scripture. I think part of it may be similar to a resistance to diving off the high dive: we are afraid of the risk of losing something. Let's be honest, on a hot summer day, floating around in the shallow end of the pool is easy, reassuring, and relaxing. Yet, it's hard to play "Sharks and Minnows" in the shallow end. The deep end is where all the wonder lies!

The Deep Calls

The New Testament is full of calls to understand the Word of God deeply. There are numerous examples of believers who were extolled for their desire to understand Scripture. The first church of Acts 2 devoted themselves daily to study. In acts 17, Luke puts forward the Bereans as examples of faithfulness because they listened to Paul intently and searched the Scriptures to prove what he said. In Acts 20, Paul taught for hours, to the point that a young man named Eutychus fell asleep and slipped out the third floor window to his death (not to worry, Paul raised him from the dead).

There are plenty of other examples and exhortations that call us to deep study of Scripture. But unfortunately, the average Christian resists because of the challenges in doing so. The long lived distinction between the clergy and the laity may be partly to blame. Often, an air of exclusivity is given to the study of Scripture, so that it seems as though one must have a seminary degree in order to fully understand a passage. While seminary is of great benefit for those who are called to ministry, Scripture is not opaque to the average Christian, especially in our day and time. Tools exist that can enable the average believer to drink deeply from the well of Scripture.

I think, too, many believers are resistant to deeper study because they wonder about its usefulness. Because of the way Theology is often taught, a deep dive into Scripture can come across as just a bunch of big words, definitions, and debates over minuscule issues. While I think the average Christian underplays how important those words, definitions, and issues can be, I also think we theologians are guilty of straining at gnats from time to time. But, there is a way to study the Word of God deeply without all the big words, definitions and debates.

Proclaiming vs. Teaching

As I've developed my method of preaching, I've found less time and use in going into the details of a particular passage, looking under every rock for some hidden treasure, and instead have devoted my time to proclaiming Christ from every passage. In doing so, I've found that for the sake of time and precision, I often have to drop very interesting sub-points that I learn in my preparation. I also have noticed the occasional look of disappointment from a congregant because I didn't delve into what a particular phrase or prophecy might mean. So, in order to remedy the lack of time I have to teach from a passage and the interests my congregation might have in a particular fact, I want to devote some time every other week to diving deep into the passage that I preached the week before. In doing this, I plan to simply open my sermon preparation notebook and let you look inside.

But, to be able to understand my sermon notes, you'll need to have a crash course in a topic called "Hermeneutics", first. Hermeneutics is the method of studying Scripture. Don't be intimidated! It's one of those big words that describes a relatively simple thing. So, for the next couple months, I want to use this blog to step through a basic hermeneutic that you can use in your own personal study of Scripture. This method will be useful whether you preach, teach Sunday school, or just want to understand your pastor's sermon more fully.

The method I want to walk you through involves four major steps that we will take one at the time:

1. The History and Context - The who, when, where, and how of the passage.
2. The Literature - The what of the passage.
3. The Theology - The why of the passage.
4. The Focus - Getting to what it all means.

I hope that this little study in studying will be beneficial to you in your personal walk with Christ and that it will strengthen you as you use your gifts in the church.