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A few days ago, Chance The Rapper shared an Instagram post in which he announced that he is going on sabbatical to study God’s Word (the Bible) for himself. He courageously admitted that although He is a follower of Jesus, he doesn’t know the Word as well as he’d like to. I respect him so much for that post and he’s given me yet another reason to be a fan of his.

How many of us Christians or (even as non-Christian skeptics and seekers) are in the same boat as Chance? How many of us recognize that and actually set out to do something about it like he is?

How many Jesus followers think we have a solid grip on biblical Christianity but don’t because we only let others teach us the Word but we don’t also study for ourselves? How many who are not followers of Jesus think you know enough about Christianity to want nothing to do with it, but your idea of Christianity is based on misunderstandings of the Bible, not the truth?

Here’s why you (and I) need to follow Chance The Rapper’s example and get to know the Bible for yourself – whether you follow Jesus yet or not.

1) Not everything you’re taught in church is right.

Don’t crucify me yet. Hear me out. What I mean by this is that amidst our instruction in doctrine and practice that we receive in church, sometimes the well-intentioned opinions and traditions of people get mixed in and taught as the same thing as biblical truth when that’s not the case.

It’s in church that I learned that God loves me and calls me to love others, that Jesus is the Savior of the world, that God cares about our obedience to Him, and that Jesus is coming back to earth as King one day. (those things are in the Bible)

It’s also in church that I “learned” that you can’t be a true Christian and make secular art as a career at the same time, that you can just “name and claim” whatever blessing you want from God and He’ll give it to you, that getting a tattoo is sinful, that I’m living in compromise if I have friends who aren’t Christians, and that if I wear jeans to church instead of a dress then I’m not giving God my best. (NONE of those ideas are supported by the sound interpretation of Scripture and I don’t believe or live by them anymore)

The point is that each of us has to learn, as blogger Phylicia Masonheimer says in this video, to filter what we believe because we were influenced by someone’s opinion/tradition that may or may not be biblical and what we believe because we have read and confirmed it through study of God’s Word. And we each need to determine what is actually biblical truth when it comes to sound doctrine and a godly lifestyle and what is extra-biblical opinion and tradition or straight up contradictory to the Bible.

We shouldn’t have an attitude of unnecessary doubt or suspicion toward our friends, Bible teachers and spiritual leaders. The Bible tells us to honor our spiritual leaders and to learn from their example. Rather, knowing that sometimes well-meaning people get man-made ideas and man-made traditions confused with God’s actual commandments invites us to be proactive in study and eager to learn and live God’s Word for ourselves.

And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth. (Acts 17:11)

2) Not everything you’re taught from the culture is right.

Similar to what we talked about in Church environments, the ideas that we are fed from the culture and society around us aren’t always accurate either.

We have to remember that this world isn’t following God and His ways, so there will be perspectives, philosophies and ways of life that are accepted – and celebrated even –  that contradict the way God calls people to think and act. (Colossians 2:6-8)

So we need to know what the Bible actually teaches so we can separate “pop-culture theology” from biblical truth.

3) You need to learn to read the Bible correctly.

It’s common for Christians to pick a section or a verse of the Bible to read, not necessarily having an awareness of its context, and then immediately start thinking about how that verse applies to their life. We quote verses on Instagram because they sound inspiring and encouraging and look cute when we make them into graphics.

But did you know that in order to understand how a passage in the Bible speaks to your life today you have to first understand what God was speaking through that passage to the original audience? Did you know that it’s important to consider context when reading and applying the Bible and that taking one verse out of context can actually cause you to come to a wrong conclusion? Context being the surrounding verses and chapters, cultural/historical backdrop, the over-arching theological themes of Scripture etc. Did you know that there are different types of literary genres in the Bible and there are some interpretive points to consider when you are reading each of those? (More on context in this blog by Jeffrey Curtis Poor)

Honestly, it bothers me that we don’t talk more about how to read, interpret and apply the Bible correctly in our churches. It troubles me that leaders in the Church, from my observation, don’t make room for small groups or courses to help the average Christian in their congregation learn how to deeply study God’s Word. There are SO MANY that do, as well as bloggers and online ministries that do, but generally speaking I don’t hear proper study of the Bible talked about in Church as much as I do how to find a spouse and how to be successful in life. (yes, that’s a jab at us, Church – a jab in love, but a jab nonetheless 😉 )

Understanding God’s Word is not a task and responsibility only for pastors and seminarians. God gave His Word to all of us, not just to the academic elites and church leaders, and we all need to understand it and know how to handle it correctly.

*See the end of this post for my recommended resources to help you read the Bible better.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

For those of you who are not Christians yet, but may be exploring faith, you’re not off the hook with this either. 🙂 You need to know how to check what the Bible actually says too, for a couple reasons.

Firstly, because not everyone who claims to be a Christian will represent Christianity to you correctly. Sometimes those people will be sincere believers but are either really legalistic and condemning in their tone or they are super casual about truth and righteousness, neither of which is okay. Sometimes they will be people who believe they are followers of Jesus but really aren’t and their actions will not match what they say they believe. And most often, they will be sincere Christians who are in a process of growth and learning like we all are and sometimes we make mistakes.

Secondly, and I’m not saying that you personally do this kind of thing, but in a general sense I can’t tell you how many videos I’ve seen online of someone trying to disprove Christianity. They approach a stranger on the street, quote some verse of the Bible out of context, and then use that to say “See! The Bible endorses slavery!” (which it doesn’t, by the way) Or, “See! The Bible is oppressive to women!” (which it’s not)

If you take that approach, you end up with a cherry-picked, cut-and-paste version of Christianity that isn’t biblically accurate and that version of Christianity is what many people end up rejecting, not the real thing.

Does the Bible say hard things sometimes? Yeah. Absolutely. But you get a better perspective of why it says what it says and how to understand those things when you give it a fair shot in reading it instead of picking the most controversial verse and discrediting the whole book based on one verse taken out of context.

I’m not saying that you have to go buy every biblical interpretation handbook on Amazon right now and if you don’t then you can never decide whether to become a Christian or not. I AM saying that today we have it so easy. You can download a free app and have the entire Bible on your phone to read whenever you want. I would recommend starting in the New Testament (the first book of the New Testament is Matthew) and reading through that section of the Bible. The New Living Translation (NLT) and New International Version (NIV) are good translations in language that is easy to understand.

You have the privilege of being able to go right to the Bible to read what it actually says and get a right perspective of God’s character and what true Christianity is according to the Bible. It’s not just a great tool for Christians to study the Bible to learn and be encouraged. It’s a great tool for anyone to have in your faith journey even before you’ve decided whether to follow Christ.

4) You need to encounter Jesus in the Word.

Popular Christian lingo is “you need to read your Bible every day because it will help you grow in your faith and get to know Jesus better.” A lot of us hear that the way we hear “you should floss every day because it will help you not to get cavities” and we’re like “ok this is apparently supposed to help me but is it really that big of a deal? Whatever.” And we move on.

Take a lesson from my dental bill and the four weeks I spent getting cavities filled for not flossing enough. When your dentist tells you to floss because it prevents cavities, you should listen. And when Jesus/fellow Christians tell you to read the Bible daily because it will help you grow your relationship with Jesus, you should listen. 😉

Nothing has developed my relationship with Jesus more than talking to Him through prayer and meeting with Him through reading His Word for myself.

Reading the Bible is more than just getting information so we can be spiritual and knowledgeable. Reading the Bible is a means of personally experiencing Jesus and getting to know Him better. When we open the Bible, Jesus the Living Word speaks to us and teaches us through His written Word. The Bible reveals His character, what He says about our identity in Him, teaches us the truth, corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what’s right, and equips us for living a godly life. (Luke 24:27-32, 44-45 // 2 Timothy 3:15-17)

The Word of God is alive and powerful and God uses it to pierce our hearts and transforms us as we read it and obey it. (Hebrews 4:12 // James 1:21-25) He uses His Word to reveal Himself to us and we grow more in knowledge of who He is and His ways and in love for Him. More on that from my personal experience here.

Jesus needs to not just be a distant figure in your mind that you worship and follow because He saved you from your sin. He needs and wants to be a Person that you know and love deeply and intimately in your heart and have a real relationship with. His Word needs to be treasured truth and instruction that shapes everything about the way you think and live. The Bible is one of the ways Jesus has given for us to connect with Him and grow our faith in Him.

So wherever you are in your faith journey, let’s you and I both take a lesson from Chance The Rapper and commit to knowing the Bible for ourselves, not just thinking we know it because people around us claim to know it.

How To Study The Bible Resources

• ThatChristianVlogger’s How To Study The Bible More Effectively Email Course
• These Jon Jorgenson videos about How To Study The Bible: here, here and here
• Read The Bible For Life by George H. Guthrie
• How To Read The Bible For All It’s Worth by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart
• Journey Into God’s Word and Grasping God’s Word by J. Scott Duvall
• From God To Us: How We Got Our Bible by Norman Geisler
• The Canon of Scripture by F.F. Bruce

Let’s Talk: Have you made studying the Bible a regular practice in your life? What resources have helped you the most? What things have you believed about following Jesus that you found out weren’t accurate once you searched the Bible for yourself? Discuss this post in the comments below.

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