"As Christian women, we must repudiate the worlds agenda for women and seek to understand the Words agenda for women... we must determine to be obedient to the the Word of God no matter what is says, with no compromises. This is what is means to be a woman of the Word. We must find out what the Bible teaches about marriage, about children, about men and women and their roles, and then we must be obedient with no apologies, no matter what the cost. Is this radical Christianity? No. This is basic Christianity."
-from The Fruit of Her Hands by Nancy Wilson.
Most definitely, Christian women should find out what the Bible teaches and obey it, even if it goes against our popular culture. However, I'm realizing that many Christians don't really understand what the Bible is instructing them to do. They read a section of the Bible and make it fit their situation. Some Christians interpret the Bible based on our modern culture, our current meaning of words, and even the policies of our church.
One of my pastors, Pastor Doug, loaned my husband and I a DVD called Herman Who? It is a hermeneutics primer - about the importance of interpreting the Bible properly. Oh boy, did that open my eyes. I realized that I was guilty of misinterpreting the Bible.
That DVD was one of the things that motivated me to start digging into the Bible and really studying it. The other motivator was my head pastor - Pastor Rick. He told us in a sermon that if we really are wanting to get to know the Lord better and to grow closer to Him, then we should be wanting to read His Bible more than anything else. That would be more than the latest Christian best seller or listening to what a pastor on the radio or TV has to say. He wasn't discrediting these resources, because they are important. However, a lot of times Christians skip over or skim through the Bible and give greater amounts of time to the other Christian things.
So, with the proper motivation and conviction, I started studying the Bible. Even though I've been a Christian since I was a pup and I even went to a Bible college for a year, it's like I'm discovering the Bible for the first time. I'm understanding what many of these ancient stories really mean and how their lessons apply to us today.
I like to listen to the commentary of J. Vernon McGee of Thru the Bible. He has a 5 year Bible study plan. Then I like to read that section of the Bible and compare the text in some of the different versions at BibleGateway. For even more detailed insight, I read the online notes or listen to the audio sermons of David Guzik. Understanding what the Bible really means is something that we all can do. It doesn't even require that we buy materials. All of the ones that I use are online for free.
In order to obey what God has called us Christian women to do, we need to read the message of the Bible correctly. It doesn't please God if we live our Christian lives based upon misunderstandings. I don't think that our ignorance impresses Him one bit. He expects us do dive in and find out what His Word is really calling us to do.
