Often when confronted by religious experts, Jesus would be bemused by their lack of understanding of things contained in the very words they studied so much.
Once He outlined how they searched the Scriptures for what made for eternal life to completely miss the point when eternal life walked among them, healing the sick and setting the captives free.
Sometimes I’m concerned that we can be illiterate in three ways.
Can’t Read:
There are still people who struggle with reading. Especially when they have the KJV to deal with. Getting to grips with the styles of writing, as well as what is written itself.
Can’t Understand
Being able to read something fluidly and confidently is one thing, but that doesn’t mean we understand it. Like the religious rulers we can ably quote scripture and recite massive chunks, without understanding what’s going on. Biblical literacy goes beyond reading and gets into understanding the key concepts of the texts themselves.
Can’t Apply
There are seminaries, colleges and courses that allow academic types to wax lyrical in biblical literate terms. They can give context in every aspect and wow you with detail of what was happening. With unchanged lives. They can write books and record DVD’s giving the benefit of their accumulated knowledge. With unchanged lives.
Spiritual literacy appreciates that the Word of God is designed for meditation, contemplation and then action. That action is in line with who God is and who we are in the light of this.
Unchanged lives and unchanged churches are a good indication of how spiritually illiterate brothers and sisters are in these settings.
Thank God that the revelation of Jesus Christ and hiw He operates through His Spirit, can address all these issues. Following His lead will hopefully allow us to experience the much needed change.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 