Biblical teaching serves as orientation

The map is not the country. It doesn’t matter how frequently, intensively or continually we read and study the Bible – there will always be unexplored areas. We will constantly learn, and always learn to understand new things. Our personal knowledge is and remains fragmentary in it (1Cor 13,9). However, we have a promise: together with all the saints we will “understand the breadth, the length, the depth, and the height, and to know the love of Christ, which surpasses all knowledge, that you may be filled to all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:18-19). This is the promise that we have only in common. Furthermore, we may realize that Christ has recruited some as apostles, others as prophets, still others as evangelists or as shepherds and teachers, so that this common recognition may also take place. Thus, supported by this work of God, we may grow up in faith. Nor will we then be tossed to and fro by “every wind of doctrine” (Eph. 4:14), but will remain established and firm in the gospel and the faith (Col. 1:23).

Healthy teaching is important, but it is not the goal. We don’t have to become theologians, scholars. We don’t get better by knowing more. The teaching is no more than an aid. Sound doctrine helps us to nourish our faith life, to give concrete direction to our relationship with Jesus, to shape a life pleasing to God, to cultivate a living expectancy, and to draw strength from it daily. Sound doctrine also gives a clear view of the future, grounds our confidence in God’s power and work, and unites in the church. That is what teaching aims to do.

Ways into the word

All the little building blocks that have been captured in various articles so far, I want to summarize into one bigger picture. Because many topics have not even been addressed yet. The picture is still incomplete. The articles merely want to encourage you to set out on your own. I can remember an 80+ year old English Bible teacher. A man with an extraordinary understanding of the Bible, he lectured twice a week at the Bible school I was attending at the time. During a coffee break, I approached him with a question that was of burning interest to me. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if he could give me an answer right away? So I asked him. What then is the context for such and such biblical terms? He looked at me and said, “Well, look it up in the Bible and find out! That was the answer. How I could do that, and that I should always go back to the basic texts of the Bible, was just the topic of these seminars. So he didn’t leave me hanging, but encouraged me to take the Bible into my own hands. Nor was it important to take his opinion, but it was much more important to “take God Himself at His word.”

What then are teachings? Teachings are something like paths into the Word over which we can walk. They are maps through which we learn some things about the country. A map helps with orientation. But the map should never be confused with the country itself. So we make the following comparison: If the teaching is the map, then the Bible is the landscape and our life is the land. Armed with various maps, we can set out in the country and our lives, orienting ourselves in the landscape, enjoying it. We can call this the way of life.

Maps

Maps were sketched in various articles, and a comparative look at the landscape was taken here and there – just as one does when hiking in an unfamiliar area.

It is useful to know rules for Bible study, just as we should know how to hold a map. In the exchange with others it is also helpful that we look at the map together and from the same side. This simplifies the conversation. We absolutely need such a pragmatic approach.

To find your way around a map, you also need to understand the legends. This helps us understand more of the colors, lines and symbols used on the map. When reading the Bible, for example, it is very helpful if we recognize a figurative language as such, or know the color and meaning of a word.

The map serves for orientation. The first time you look at a new map, you have to set a few clues, and during the journey the jumble of abstract lines will gradually be filled with life and many impressions. We may not know at the beginning where the many marked paths lead, nor have we got an overview. However, the indications for the interpretation of the Bible are comparable to a map legend. Looking at the legend every now and then helps to interpret the lines and symbols on the map. Card reading is something everyone needs to learn. Now it’s a matter of setting out with the map, using the map for its intended purpose. Maybe you need to constantly add to the map, draw in more details, or get a detailed map for some sections. We are free to do all this because the map is not the land. It’s not about the map, it’s about the land, and the destination in mind. That’s where we want to get to.

We can even expand the picture a bit. Let’s think of each teaching as a separate map of the same country. Someone may have an ancient map on precious parchment, drawn in with a quill pen. The map corresponds exactly to the ideas of the sixteenth century and teaches us a lot about how the country was understood at that time. Others have newer maps, perhaps even waterproof versions, cut-out and detailed maps, hiking and biking maps, rough maps with car roads, gas stations and the like, and still others enjoy special maps with public transport connections, gemstone occurrences or other notes. And there are even some who have these maps installed on their iPad or cell phone, right including GPS. A really practical thing! Let us keep in mind that on these different maps, although they are of the same country, different things have been drawn. A map is always a simplified representation, just as a doctrine is always a simplified representation of biblical relationships. Maps, like doctrines, attempt to represent complex relationships in a simplistic manner. There is no map that shows everything.

Correctly assess aids

A healthy approach to God’s Word sees useful tools in all these cards, and the skilled card reader chooses the best and most appropriate card to help him along the way to his goal. Of course, it cannot always be assumed that every map is 100% accurate. It needs updates.

I myself live on a dead end street. It is amazing how many motorists have been misguided by their GPS system and think that it is possible to drive on here. Even warning signs at the beginning of the road don’t help. Despite clear indications in the Word, some teachings lead just as far offside. If you can’t get any further, then you can turn back. Rethinking (Gr. metanoia) is a good biblical principle and is far from being applicable only to a “conversion” (Rom 12:1-2).

It is worthwhile to read and study the Bible in depth. This will give us a better orientation.

In talking with other people, I sometimes recognize the cards they use. Then I think: aha! This one has such a map. And that friend there has a slightly different one. The advantage of these different cards is that it never gets boring in the conversation and everyone can learn. Together on the way to the destination, we can take a break every now and then while hiking, look at the maps to determine the next route. This is roughly how I imagine we may know “with all the saints” the breadth, length, depth and height of Christ’s love. Let us never forget that we are traveling with each other and with Christ, and not with the maps (even if we take them with us). It’s better to live uninhibited.

Terra Incognita

Should we also ask ourselves if we have a complete map? Calvin, one of the Reformers, for example, recorded a commentary on all the books of the Bible. Except for the revelation to John. He couldn’t do that because he couldn’t do anything with the book. It so completely contradicted his map of the Bible that it remained like a blind spot. And I know (also from my own experience) many a teaching that blocks the view of other essential topics. A second example: There was once a hotel in Italian-speaking Switzerland where a world map hung in the entrance area. The owner was not particularly fond of the USA, and unceremoniously cut the United States out of the world map. There is now a big hole in this map. These examples show that perhaps everyone has a “terra incognita” (Latin for unknown land), a blind spot, for whatever reason.

Oh, how exciting, you have a different card than I do!

Neither my own understanding nor that of my neighbor will be able to grasp everything. If we recognize the limitations of our own recognition, we can also take a look at our neighbor’s map with interest. He uses this card because he has had good experiences with it. Let’s ask questions. What did he learn through his card from Christ Jesus, from our God and Father? What has become important to him? What wealth has he discovered? Then we test it as the Bereans did (Acts 17:10-12) and keep what is good (1Thess 5:21).

Deepening and questions about the conversation

• I find this article …
  • Completely unrealistic because …
  • Helpful because …
  • Super because …
  • Critical because …
• Is it important to look at different teachings?
• Is it important to look at different teachings?
• Were you and are you encouraged in your community to form your own opinions?
• How do you foster exchange with dissenters in your community? Delimiting, incorporating, balancing, deepening, pointing the way?
• The image of maps can be used to put the utility and value of lessons into perspective and even make them mutually meaningful. Where are the boundaries in mutual understanding? Try to formulate the answer using the “map” picture. (The point is not to label this or that example as “wrong”, but more abstractly to clarify why a certain type of map would not be acceptable. Conversely, you could also positively describe what a map “has to be able to do” in order for it to be useful to you).
• Have you ever been frustrated with your own map? What did you do as a result?