BY LEE GUGLIOTTO

ESPITE GROWING UP IN A CHRISTIAN home, Olivia Langdon fell in love with lifelong humanist Mark Twain. Friends predicted disaster for the odd couple, but signs that her famous fiancé might become a Christian persuaded Olivia to marry him anyway.

At first, he regularly asked the blessing at meals and joined her in worship, but eventually he returned to his old ways. And when he announced, "Livy, I don't believe in the Bible," reality set in: the "Twains" would never meet—in Christ.

In the months that followed, Mark's unbelief drained Livy's confidence in God. When life's struggles left her down in the dumps, he tried to cheer her up by urging her, "Livy, if it comforts you to lean on the Christian faith, do so." But disappointment over Mark had snowballed into disinterest in Christ. She replied, "Mark, I can't. I've forgotten how."

At first glance, Olivia's stunning loss of faith grabs our main attention, but Mark Twain's failure to accept the authority of Scripture is, to me, the real lesson of this story. He once admitted: "Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture which they cannot understand; but as for me, I have always noticed that those passages of Scripture which trouble me most are those which I do understand."

According to God's Word, understanding takes believing—it is an act of faith, the natural outcome of faith in action (John 10:38). Thus, the celebrated captain of common sense punched a hole in his own argument when he conceded, "I don't believe in the Bible."

That Spirit-less people like Mark Twain cannot get the full, true sense of the Bible comes as no surprise. More amazing to me, however, are spiritual people who struggle to grasp the meaning of God's Word. My wife and I have met many who cannot get the drift of Scripture for themselves—even though they believe in it!

You're probably wondering, "How can people of faith miss the Bible study boat?" After two decades of research we believe God has given us insight into this matter.

What Is Bible Study?
The words "Bible study" trigger a broad range of impressions—from casually filling in blanks to squinting at faded ancient documents. So, to put us all on the same page, let's ask two relevant passages about what the Bible calls "study":

o According to Acts 17:11, the people in Berea "welcomed the message with willing minds and searched the Scriptures daily to see if Paul was telling the truth."* Instead of taking the apostle's word for it, the Bereans checked everything he said by studying God's Word firsthand for themselves.

o When Sadducees tested their theories about the resurrection of Jesus, He told them, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures" (Matt. 22:29). He expected everything we understand about spiritual things to come from and agree with what the Bible says about them.

Both passages underscore the investigative nature of Bible study as a personal search—a firsthand look—at holy Scripture that allows us to understand what Bible writers meant, directly from the words in their writings.

People usually assume they set the agenda for Bible study; but God has His own goals for time spent in His Word: "You search the Scriptures," Jesus scolded the Jews, "because you imagine that in them you have eternal life; but they are the ones that testify about me; yet you are unwilling to approach me so you may possess life" (John 5:39, 40).

Our search for eternal life leads us to Christ. As we study Scripture, it supplies the evidence we need to believe that He is the immortal one who alone can give us indestructible life—not just with surefire facts, but by allowing us to interact directly with Him. As author Henry Blackaby says: "When you realize that you can't understand the Word of God apart from the Spirit revealing it to you, then you will realize that God has just encountered you. God will reveal Himself to you from His Word so that you can immediately experience Him."¹

Why should we study the Bible? Because God wants us to connect with the Living Word as we study the Written Word. We cannot obtain eternal life secondhand; only firsthand Bible study will put us in direct contact with Christ.

Even so, remarkably few actually get into the Bible and study it for themselves. "I have found during my ministry," reports Blackaby, "that Christians have gone from having the Bible as the only book, to having it as little more than a reference book for other Christian literature. Men read all about the Bible, but rarely do they look into the Bible itself."²

As far back as 1890, a letter writer asked, "Sister White, do you think we must understand the truth for ourselves? Why can we not take the truths that others have gathered together, and believe them because they have investigated the subjects?" He was willing to swap firsthand discoveries for secondhand insights, but not Ellen White. Instead of approving his scheme, she warned him: "It is dangerous to make flesh our arm. We should lean upon the arm of infinite power." ³ She urged him to depend entirely on God when he studied the Bible.

The Danger of Leaning on Other People
Supposing he saw an easier way to study, that brother overlooked the double danger of getting truth secondhand: by depending on others we rely less on the Holy Spirit than we should, as well as weaken the thinking skills and powers of the mind we need to grasp the meaning of God's Word for ourselves!

Ellen White explained the risks. She cautioned: "We should not take the testimony of any man as to what the Scriptures teach, but should study the words of God for ourselves. If we allow others to do our thinking, we shall have crippled energies and contracted abilities." ⁴

When we substitute TV, tapes, videos, sermons, books, or explanations from others for personal study, we cripple our energies so that we do not have enough drive or stamina to think things through until we can grasp them. We also shrink the size and number of our thinking skills until they are too little and too few to probe texts for deeper truths; and thus we get less out of them than we should.

In the end, "The noble powers of the mind may become so dwarfed by lack of exercise on themes worthy of their concentration as to lose their ability to grasp the deep meaning of the word of God." ⁵ Shriveling energies, shrinking skills, and stunted powers create the illusion of difficulty.

What's more, secondhand knowledge doesn't last because you can't transfer knowledge from one person to another.⁶ Learning requires three levels of memory: (1) immediate memory—to retain information long enough to perform tasks and maintain a train of thought; (2) short-term memory—to retain and recall data for more than a few minutes and connect new information with long-term memory; and (3) long-term memory—to store information for as long as a lifetime.

We use immediate memory to follow a speaker, a teacher, or a writer; but we cannot stretch immediate memory into long-term memory. Unless we practice what we have been told or shown, we will not develop short-term memories to store and integrate data for the long haul. Consideration over time produces conviction: the ability to stand for something; and repetition leads to skill: the ability to do something well without leaning on others.

For those who want to understand the Bible for themselves, here's good news: just as getting knowledge secondhand "dwarfs the noble powers of the mind," conversely, "the mind will enlarge if it is employed in tracing out the relation of the subjects of the Bible, comparing scripture with scripture and spiritual things with spiritual." ⁷

Surprise! Bible study is the cure for those who find it too hard. It can reverse the damage from years of dependence on others and rejuvenate lost reading and comprehension skills from our childhood. Like accident victims who fight to regain the use of their legs, secondhand students must fight to regain the use of their noble powers. In fact, "If God's word were studied as it should be," its pupils would stand out from the rest of society: "men would have a breadth of mind, a nobility of character, and a stability of purpose that are rarely seen in these times."⁸

Incidentally, whoever holds the jug from which secondhand knowledge pours limits students to what he or she knows, but there are no limits with Christ in charge. To understand the Bible for ourselves, we must revitalize lost skills, restore the noble powers of our minds, and allow Christ to be our teacher.

How Can Christ Be Your Teacher?
In Jesus' day teachers called rabbis conducted classes in the tradition of the schools of the prophets—at the center of study groups, surrounded by circles of students. The rabbi-disciple model enjoyed such status at the time that even Jesus, a longtime opponent of the rabbis, adopted it.

Once, when He wanted to guarantee justice in the delicate matter of church discipline, Jesus said: "When two or three gather in my name, there I am in the midst of them" (Matt. 18:20). He painted a picture of Himself as the rabbi at the center of His followers, instructing, guiding, and directing them. Rabbinic disciples always repeated word for word what their masters said.

Jesus adopted the rabbinic format, but not the rabbinic system. He broke with tradition when He told His disciples: "But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren" (Matt. 23:8).

Disciples studied their teachers rather than God, hoping to become duplicates of them. When they completely mastered their teachers, they graduated from school and became rabbis. But no one completely masters Rabbi Jesus and graduates from the school of Christ in this lifetime; He will forever remain the only rabbi of His class.

Jesus invites us to have a personal relationship with Him. Only He can mold and shape disciples into followers of Himself, and so restore in us the image He shares with the Trinity—the image of God.

A Biblical Demonstration
The story of the woman at the well shows rabbi-style discipleship in action. First, she met Jesus in person, and He won her over. Telling people about Jesus became her top priority, so she left her jar at the well and bragged [witnessed] about Him to her friends and neighbors. Her testimony inspired them to approach Jesus. That's how classes typically grow: students share their excitement with others so that they want to meet the teacher and check Him out for themselves.

When these neighbors met Jesus, He won them over, too. They told the woman: "We no longer believe because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world" (John 4:42). Jesus convinced them that the woman was right about Him.

The woman's story teaches four main lessons:

1. Evangelism and discipleship happen at the same time.

Inviting people to become lifelong disciples of Christ is a better way to reach out with the good news than telling people that Jesus wants only to save them. Converts should want to be His disciples and our classmates from the start; too many confuse the decision to let Jesus save them with a daily commitment to Him.

2. If disciples brag about the Teacher and what He can do, they can generate interest in Him and draw others to Him.

Our claims about Jesus get people's hopes up—igniting just enough faith to entertain the possibility that what we say about Him may be true. Our job is to get people to approach our Teacher, Jesus, so He can get a firsthand opportunity to win them.

3. When interests approach the Master, He can confirm His disciples' claims—and win them over, too.

Jesus can witness to Himself better than all of us put together. When interested people see Him in action, He convinces them to take faith to the next level and put their complete trust in Him as Savior and Lord.

4. To understand the Bible for ourselves, we must study with the Master—even after we have studied with other disciples.

Rabbinic discipleship goes through two equally sacred and valid steps: the first, led by disciples (like the woman) who point to the Teacher. Testimonies, including sermons, evangelistic series, workshops/seminars, Sabbath school and other classes, topical Bible studies, dramatizations, concerts, and books, allow disciples to witness—to share—but not to transfer what they have learned from the Master. After all, if they could transplant what Christ has given to them—who would need Jesus?

This sets the stage for the second step: led by the Teacher, to finish what His disciples have started. Christ interacts directly with disciples. As He wins over new candidates and inspires them to join His discipleship class, He also molds and shapes old and new disciples more like Himself so He can restore God's image in them.

Meet Him for Yourself
God wants us to know Him through His Word—not to make a research project out of Bible study. And He wants to transform those who seek Him into lifelong imitations of Himself. Disciples play a key role in this process: they study with the Master and point others to Him, but their witness cannot finish the job. Witnessing excites people, and for a while, good preaching, teaching, and fellowship will reinforce the high and renew the thrill of being pointed to Christ. Eventually, however, these things will fail to hold their interest. Since nothing can replace a face-to-face meeting with Christ, the convert leaves through the "back door."

This is your wake-up call: stop depending on the testimony of others and meet with Christ for yourself. Take immediate steps to revitalize lost skills, restore the noble powers of your mind, and make Christ, not another disciple, your teacher. Pull out all the stops. Your response could decide whether you know or experience God through His Word—or even know God at all.

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*Bible texts are the author's translation.

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¹ Henry Blackaby, The Man God Uses, p. 91.
² Ibid., p. 93.
³ Review and Herald, Mar. 25, 1890.
⁴ Ellen White, Steps to Christ, p. 88.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Peter Taylor, How to Design a Training Course, pp. 34, 35.
⁷ Ibid., p. 88.
⁸ Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students,
p. 460.
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Lee Gugliotto is an author who equips people to understand the Bible, to reconnect with the God of the Bible, and to fulfill the Great Commission. You may reach him at pastorlee@empowerministries.org.