Spiritual Disciplines #4: Study

           As we continue our series on the spiritual disciplines from Richard Foster’s book Celebration of Discipline, we come to the last of what Foster calls the “inward disciplines.”  This time we are looking at the discipline of study.

Of course, our first subject of study, as Christians, is the Bible, and we should all know by now that we do not read the Bible simply for information, and most of us are likely very dutiful at reading the Bible devotionally, such as reading The Daily Bread or Upper Room or a devotional guide.  Reading the Bible devotionally is a vital part of the Christian life.  This kind of reading could be called reading for inspiration.  The goal of practicing the discipline of study, or any of the spiritual disciplines, is not information, nor even inspiration, but transformation.

When reading the Bible, or any text, we need to read to understand to apply.  The questions to ask ourselves while reading are: What does it say? What does it mean? What does it mean to me?  Far too often when we read Scripture we want to skip ahead to the last question, in fact in group Bible studies we often ask each other, “What does this verse say to you.?”  To really study the Bible, we need to first, take in the actual words that are printed on the page as they are.  Next, we need to try to determine what the Holy Spirit through the biblical authors was trying to communicate to the original audience and to the Church throughout time.  This is what the passage means.  Finally, firmly rooted in the words of the text and in God’s intended meaning, we can begin to discern how to apply the text to our lives.  Foster says, that for some people and in some situations these steps may require three separate readings, but with practice, all three can often be done simultaneously.

Foster says that while the Bible is the primary focus of our study, we should also study other religious and literary writings, other people, nature, and, most importantly, ourselves.  As Methodists, we often say that our reading of Scripture is informed by reason, our own best thinking and that of others in our community, tradition, the best of the thinking of the historical church, and experience, our own spiritual experiences and those of others.

The real breakthrough in my understanding of the Bible, and to be sure there are still parts of it that I do not fully grasp, came not as the result of college or seminary, although those certainly helped.  No, the real breakthrough came when I changed from reading the Bible for information or inspiration to reading the Bible for transformation.  Many people try to read the Bible and make it fit their lives and their opinions.  They look to the Bible to find justification for what they want and how they want to live.  When I read the Bible, I am trying to find out how God wants me to live and to become who he wants me to be.  I seek to wrap my life around the Bible, rather than to wrap the Bible around my life.  When you do that, I promise you from experience, the Holy Spirit will help you understand and your life will be changed.