| From Steve Shaffer, Director of Coaching and Discipleship
Reading scripture is central to the identity of disciples. After all, how can we follow God without knowing God, and how do we know God without listening to what he has said? While we can certainly learn about God and his character through observing creation, (e.g., Rom 1:19f) what we learn through Scripture is more specific and instructive. We learn how to navigate our life situations by observing how those disciples who lived before us lived by faith in their life situations. We believe that Scripture is inspired. Disciples led by the Holy Spirit were inspired to share their stories, wisdom, correspondence, convictions, and poetry and we who live long after can anchor our faith-story in the long narrative of faithful followers of God. We honor Scripture when we elevate it in our life as the Word of God. Elevating Scripture means allowing what we hear to sink deep into our souls and change us. Scripture was never meant to simply inform us, it was designed to transform us. Actually, now that I’ve written that, I realize it’s not what I believe. I don’t believe that Scripture, by itself, is what transforms me. It is God who transforms me. It is the Spirit that reveals and convicts me. While I learn about God and the Spirit’s work in Scripture, the book is not the power. I don’t want to simply listen to Scripture to know about God. I want to know God and allow Him to mold and make me into His image. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection. |
