5 Bible Challenges for Men

2018 is upon us and during this season of resolution and challenge, I come to you, Christian men, with one of my own.

But my challenge to you is not for this year only. My challenge is for you to take the first steps towards a life-altering approach to your interaction with the Bible. I can think of few things as exciting as the notion of Christian men beginning to take their faith and the Word of God as seriously as Christ indicated we all should.

So, I present to you here five steps to consider when you come to the Bible this year. This post is not a reading plan or a hand-holding exercise. It’s not a get-anything-quick scheme. I’m not selling or promising anybody anything. I simply want to lay out a few points of consideration that may help each of us when it comes to how we engage with the Word of the living God.

Without any further ado.

1. Take it seriously.

We can try to define our lives with a lot of different things. Jobs, money, sex, talent, possessions, accomplishments… all of these and more compete within our minds and souls to be the primary criteria by which we will judge our success as men and our lives as a whole. Most of us have at times seriously considered our lives in the light of at least a few of these, and we’ve spent plenty of time and mental energy pondering about how we measure up in each category.

The Bible, on the other hand, demands that we define our lives according to what it has to say to us. Jeremiah 9:23-24 records the Lord saying, “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight.” And then John 17:3 records Christ defining eternal life as, “[knowing] you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” The Bible’s standard for success in our lives both now and into eternity is the knowledge of God and Christ. And how might a man come to know them?

Hebrews 11:6 tells us that, “[W]ithout faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.” So, faith is an integral part. We must possess it to even begin to know God.

Given that, let’s consider Romans 10:17: “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

We must have faith to know God, and faith comes from hearing the word of Christ. And where might we find the word of Christ?

You guessed it.

The question for each and every one of us, though, is whether or not we take the Bible as seriously as Christ and the apostles did. Paul wrote in II Timothy 3:16 that, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable,” and Peter seconded the notion when he wrote that, “no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (II Peter 1:20-21)

The contention of the Bible is that it was written by God Himself and that it is the key to knowing Him, understanding Him, and drawing close to Him. It seems to me that if we as Christian men say that we believe this Bible, then it necessarily follows that we cannot take the Scriptures seriously enough. 

2. Don’t just read it. Study.

Bible reading plans are popular. They get you through the text. But, if we’re honest, how many of us really retain what we read when we’re just reading something in order to get through it?

True retention, true learning, and true knowledge come from study.

There are loads of additional materials available specifically designed to help people better understand the Bible. Everything from timelines of biblical history to maps of pertinent regions to dissections of different doctrinal and theological understandings of ideas and themes are more-or-less at our fingertips. We live in an era of unprecedented access to knowledge.

Sadly, much of that knowledge goes completely un-accessed.

Instead of just breezing through the chapters, why not take the time to really dig into them? And instead of waiting for a pastor to do it for you for thirty-five minutes on a Sunday morning, why not chip away at the stone yourself a little bit every day?

The Bible is a massive, important tome, to say the least. It is a deep diamond mine of eternally important truth and thought. Scratching the surface really won’t suffice.

Approach the Bible not just as a casual reader, but as a disciple. Investigate it. Correlate it. Cross reference it. Connect dots and put the pieces together.

You don’t necessarily have to become a professional theologian and scholar if you believe what the Bible says about itself. But you might just consider becoming an amateur one.

3. Find the paths that interest you the most and follow them where they lead.

Have you ever read Nahum? Numbers? Philemon?

If not, have you ever asked yourself why not?

Might it be that you’ve never had your interest piqued enough to give you cause to read them?

This was me until I realized two things: first, that the Bible contains a fantastic amount of historical and cultural context that informs the words of some of the more obscure books, and second, that if I was going to wait for a pastor to teach me Obadiah or Philemon, I would be waiting forever.

I am a history freak. I love the study of what’s come before, especially in the context of what has formed the world around me. Once I realized that understanding the history of the Bible would help me understand why God was saying what He was saying through His prophets, for example, I began to understand that there is a lot more for me in the Bible than just the words themselves.

I followed the path of history right through the books of the Prophets, and for the first time in my life, books that never seem to get discussed in church came alive with meaning and truth for me.

So what is it for you? What interests you? Maybe it’s the lives of the figures that get profiled and highlighted through the progression of Scripture. Maybe it’s the ideas and the doctrines. Maybe it’s the literary forms God implemented throughout the different books. Maybe, like me, it’s the history. Maybe it’s each and every one of these things.

The Bible contains a myriad of different themes within its conceptual framework. History, poetry, biography, prophecy, theology, and doctrine are but a few of them. So what floats your boat? Have you ever thought about grabbing onto one particular string and pulling on it to see what gets revealed? Have you ever considered dedicating yourself to the investigation of one particular part of the Bible’s many levels in order to understand it better?

Find what excites you, what mystifies you, what interests you, what confuses you, or what fascinates you and go after it within the pages of the Bible. See what it has to say. And let your interest in that thing drive your study.

You might just find yourself reading (and understanding!) parts of the Bible you’ve never even thought to glance at before.

4. Stick to it.

Becoming a man of the Word is not an overnight venture.  If you’re going to take reading, studying, and understanding the Bible seriously, then you are setting yourself up for a long journey. Dedication, consistency and persistence are part of the deal.

We all know how easy it is to make commitments only to break them (especially in this time of year). And serious engagement with the Bible is nothing if not a commitment. But don’t misunderstand: there will be days when you don’t want to get down to the business of learning the Scriptures. There will be times of waxing and waning levels of interest. There will be days where, because of scheduling or busyness or sickness or any number of different things, you just don’t crack open the book.

And all of that is ok.

I am not here trying to say to you that daily Bible reading is some kind of ritualistic, religious requirement. It’s not. God will not be angry with you if you do not read some part of the Scriptures every single day of your life.

But.

An attitude of serious commitment will naturally create in you a desire to read and study and learn. And that attitude of commitment will keep you going through the weeks and months and years that follow your first day.

Believing that the Bible is what it says that it is should create in us a standard of admiration, reverence, and devotion to it. If it really is what the God of the universe wants to communicate to us, then an attitude of persistent, regular, and excited interaction with it seems only reasonable. It doesn’t mean that you have to read and study deeply every single day, but it does mean that you should read and study regularly throughout your life, whatever that might look like for you.

So figure out what you want to draw out of the Scriptures and then develop a routine that enables you to keep coming back to the well regularly. But realize that the eternal importance and bottomless inexhaustibility of what the Bible contains should create you in a mindset of discipleship: if you are devoting your life to Christ, then realize that it will take the rest of your life (and on into eternity) to receive what He has for you.

Buckle up for the long haul.

5. Pray about it.

James 1:5 tells us that, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

Paul instructs us in Philippians 4:6, “[I]n everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

In John 15:5, Christ Himself reminds us that, “[A]part from me, you can do nothing.”

It is not reasonable for you to expect great understanding of the Bible without the help of God. Now, someone might say that there are plenty of non-Christian people who study and learn all about the Bible without any kind of interaction with or prayer to or even reverence for God. But, remember:

“For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” (I Corinthians 2:10-14)

It is the contention of the Bible that to truly understand what it teaches in a way that affects your life, gets you closer to God, and helps you grasp and comprehend truth, you must be reliant on the Spirit of God.

Studying the Bible is unlike studying any other kind of text. Its source, its author, and its content are not human. It is above us. It is beyond us.

Attempting to understand the Bible without the acknowledgment of your need for God in doing so is like trying to map out the Amazon rainforest in the dark. Yes, you can feel around and maybe, perhaps get some sort of sense of what you’re into. But you will never understand it. You will never comprehend it. You will never accomplish what it is that you’re setting out to accomplish.

So, integral to any serious study of the Word of God is an absolute reliance on God to illuminate it for you. Ask Him to connect the dots where you can’t. Ask Him to show you how the truths that the Bible contains apply to your life. Ask Him to show you how you can conform more closely to what it teaches. Ask Him to give you wisdom in every area of memory, retention, understanding, and learning.

It is His mind, after all. It only makes sense to ask Him to explain it to you.

~

Becoming a man of the Word may in fact be in the highest purpose of your life. If you are Christ’s man, then you were called to devote yourself to the teachings of His Scriptures. You were called to learn them, understand them, and conform your life to them.  

So, this year, if you haven’t already, think very seriously about taking steps to becoming a learned, dedicated, and resilient man of the Bible. This year, and every one after.

~

But [Jesus] answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” – Matthew 4:4

Every word of God proves true; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
– Proverbs 30:5

The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
– Psalm 19:7-11