Hang Up Your Dishrag and Pick Up Your Bible

I am struck by Mary's behavior in her sister, Martha's, home. Luke 10:38-42 describes a scene that most people who have ever read the Bible are familiar with. Jesus, along with a number of His disciples, was traveling and came to the home of Martha. Her sister, Mary, was also there and the Scriptures tell us that Mary sat at Jesus' feet and heard His Word. Martha, however, was distracted with much serving. No doubt she was a good hostess, wanting to make sure all her guests were fed and taken care of.

We think this is necessary. As a veteran hostess, I have served hundreds in our different homes over the years. I love entertaining, cooking, preparing for guests and making their stay in our home as comfortable and pleasant as I can.

I have observed that, in the church and in Christian circles, women are often relegated to the kitchen to prepare, serve and clean up while men often enjoy fellowship around the Word of God. I attended a pastors & wives fellowship a few years ago. Before going, I was told by the hostess that the women generally stayed in the kitchen, talking, while the men studied a specific doctrine. My interest was piqued at what the men might be studying and I asked her for more information. She didn't know, but said that the women don't attend those sessions.

When I got to the meeting, I saw an outline of the day's study and really wanted to sit in and learn. So, when things started, I walked to the men's meeting with my husband. The hostess told me, again, that the women usually stayed in the kitchen and talked, then helped put out lunch. I honestly couldn't bring myself to stay in the kitchen. While I felt a little bad for her, I ended up leaving her in the kitchen alone, wishing she would join us in the study.

The study was excellent! It was an expository study, complete with an exegetical guide that we all got copies of. None of the men seemed to think it strange that I was there with them, and, in fact, there was another woman there, too. I attended several more of these meetings, and by the 3rd one I attended, all the women were sitting in on the sessions rather than hanging out in the kitchen. Score! Amazingly, lunch was still served and everyone ate and was satisfied.

Mary sat at Jesus' feet, learning from Him. Even at Martha's pleas to do so, Jesus did not tell Mary to get up and help. What He did say is surprising to our culture. He said that Mary had chosen "that good part which will not be taken away from her."

As a woman, I do not feel that my place is in the kitchen. I feel that my place is at the feet of Jesus, learning of Him and teaching others of Him. Even as a hostess, I have intentionally tried to ease the preparation of food so as not to miss out on opportunities to learn of Jesus from others, or participate in a study. Jesus said this is "the good part" and that it "can't be taken away" from us.

Why do we women often allow this to be taken away from us? We need to hang up our dishrags and pick up our Bibles and take a stand against traditional roles that exclude us from deep Bible study and participation. You have permission from the King, Himself. You have His approval to stop being sidelined when it comes to deep Bible study. Mary not only had His approval, but His praise. Imagine being praised by the Savior, Himself.

I dare say that if Jesus came to my house in the flesh, I would have someone order take-out because I would not leave His side long enough to even make a phone call to place the order, let alone cook something. I don't want to miss a word.

~Tricia

Stop Buying Bible Study Books!

A Case for Inductive Bible Study

A personal story

          For the longest time I felt cheated.  I couldn’t afford all the latest Bible study books on the market. We had eight kids and the budget was stretched to its max with their needs already. There was simply no room for something as luxurious as a Bible study book.  So I used my Bible, my concordance, my husband’s lexicon and his inter-linear Greek New Testament, a Bible dictionary and other tools to study my Bible.  I had taken Principles of Bible Study in college so I was familiar with the “how to” of  inductive Bible study. But, for the longest time, I felt like I was missing something.  Whenever we would go to a conference or I would go to a women’s seminar, all the ladies would talk about the latest Bible study book on the market and they were so excited.  But, I would return home to my own, independent Bible study methods time and time again, literally for a couple of decades. 

Ok, so the kids grew and some left home and the budget loosened up a bit.  I was finally able to purchase a couple of these Bible study books that were so popular.  Imagine my excitement!  When I got my first one, I was taken aback by its contents.  Why, it wasn’t a Bible study book at all!  It was filled with opinions, Scripture taken out of context and very shallow applications of what were, to me, rich passages of Scripture filled with promise and Truth.  I was sorely disappointed and a bit confused.

I quickly went back to my personal, inductive Bible study, by choice this time, and there I will remain!  Nothing on the market replaces or even comes close in comparison to inductive Bible study.  I make observations, do the interpretations and the Holy Spirit applies His Word to my heart and life.  My portion is observation + interpretation.  I have seen far too many good-intentioned teachers wrongly apply the Scriptures, leading to a false teaching that they, themselves, would never want to teach!  No one can apply the Scriptures to your life – only the Holy Spirit can do that and only the Holy Spirit should do that.  So, my study does not include application.  In the studies I teach, I often teach a Scriptural Truth, then I will ask my students if that Truth will change their perspective, and if so, how?

If you are studying God’s Word, you will learn God. 

Who He is. Why He is. What He is.

What I have learned in more than 30 years of personal, inductive Bible study:

1. Discernment - when we know Truth, we easily recognize error. Discernment isn’t necessarily something that has to be developed with effort.  Knowing the Bible produces discernment; it’s not up to me.  Biblical knowledge is the only way to get discernment.

2. Discipline - a dissatisfaction developed in me if I didn’t study a portion of Scripture thoroughly - I've always had to get to the bottom of it! This led to an overwhelming desire to see a study through to the end, to seek answers I didn't see right away.

3. Consistency - I had to approach all Scripture the same way every time. Even though I am the “creative type” and tend to go more according to my moods (like what I feel like having for dinner, etc.) I have been much more consistent with my Bible study than in any other area of my life.  I quickly learned that Bible study is not about my moods or even about what I want to learn; it’s about Jesus Christ and learning more about Him.

4. Grammar skills - grammatical content and structure is vitally important to inductive Bible study and I found that I lost meaning if I didn’t stop to consider the grammatical structure. This attention to grammar has helped even in my freelance writing, making me a better writer.

It's now easier than ever to do inductive Bible study. There are online lexicons, fabulous software programs and great concordances just a mouse click away. 

Stop buying Bible study books and just study your Bible. Don't settle for someone else's observations about the Bible, make your own, before you read theirs.

~Tricia