I\u2019ve grown up reading the Bible. Maybe you have too. Can\u2019t really ever remember not reading the Bible. I don\u2019t keep track, but I read it all the time. I love the Word. The stories of the Old Testament. The wisdom of Proverbs. The God who fights for his people. The faithful prophets in the times of rebellion. The beautiful, worshipful psalms. And then into the New Testament: the coming of the King, his life, death, and resurrection. The spread of the church. The letters of Paul. The looking forward to heaven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All this talk of my Bible reading can sound like pride.\nThat\u2019s because so many of us (me included) can count Bible reading as a mark of\nvalue. I don\u2019t think its pride if I talk about rereading my favorite novel for\nthe 10th<\/sup> time. But I am tempted to count Bible reading as spiritual\ndiscipline, as a good work, the very act a \u2018means of grace.\u2019 I have this\nthought that the reading itself will change me, will do something more than\nreading another book. I have this thought that the words that I read will be\nused by the Holy Spirit\u2014somewhat mysteriously, even magically\u2014to change my\nheart and grow me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reading the Bible then becomes \u2018my part.\u2019 Reading it isn\u2019t\nbecause I love the narrative tension of David and Goliath, or the irony of\nJonah. It is to change me. And the mindset that I can get into is that the\nchange is my earnest application of the tenants. My learning of principles and\npractice. Even the reading itself becomes part of this improvement mindset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ve fought that at Grace and are sometimes misunderstood\nbecause of our stand against progressive spiritual improvement through hard\nwork. Another word for what we won\u2019t affirm is merit-based progress. You know,\nread more to grow more. Earn the growth by doing the work. Your effort plus\nGod\u2019s help leads to a better you. Our problem with this approach is,\nparadoxically, the Bible itself. What the Word actually proclaims is counter to\nour normal practice of self-improvement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And so the message itself is why we excitedly affirm and\npromote reading the Bible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because the Bible is where you understand the story. Where\nyou see God\u2019s revelation. Where you encounter the Word who is Jesus. Where you\nare broken of you, and trust him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s why we\u2019re eager to examine the Gospel of Mark\ntogether. Because while the other gospel accounts might more easily shine forth\nwith Jesus as the only center, from the I AM\u2019s to the parables of prodigals and\npublicans, Mark reflects our conviction about the whole Bible. That it is all\nabout the Son of God who came. Mark is relentless to show us, not steps to\nimprovement, but our need to trust in this Jesus. This savior. This redeemer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Over the course of the next months, we\u2019ll walk through\nMark\u2019s presentation. I\u2019ll put posts up as we go, with some highlights from what\nwe\u2019re teaching on Sundays, encouragements that the gospel is good news about\nJesus, not us. You can also check out the church\u2019s facebook page, where we\u2019re\nputting up weekly short video posts on Wednesdays (\u201cwhiteboard Wednesdays\u201d). <\/p>\n\n\n\n So\u2026 read Mark, will you? And my hope is that we will be\nchanged. Because of the relentless presentation of Jesus Christ, Son of Man,\nSon of God, we see what belief is: that the only hope we have is this Savior\nfor us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019ve grown up reading the Bible. Maybe you have too. Can\u2019t really ever remember not reading the Bible. I don\u2019t keep track, but I read it all the time. I love the Word. The stories of the Old Testament. The wisdom of Proverbs. The God who fights for his people. The faithful prophets in the … Continue reading Reading Mark, Finding Jesus<\/span>