2 minute readThis is a follow-up to yesterday’s articled entitled “Abandoning the Cult of Prooftexting: Why I Don’t Attend or Lead Bible Studies Anymore.”
In the immortal words of Inigo Montoya, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” That quote often comes to mind when people on social media claim they did “research,” which seems to mean skimming the introductory paragraph of the Wikipedia page and half paying attention to a couple YouTube videos while multi-tasking with another project. I often think the same thing when Christians say they “studied” the Bible.
Several years ago I was telling a friend about why I balk at most Bible Studies and he just couldn’t wrap his mind around the nature of my objection. In fact, he insisted that he’d been present with me at genuine Bible Studies. Finally I said, “You’re a pretty bright guy yet you graduated college with a B- average, right? I’m curious. How often did you actually study?” Eventually he admitted that he seldom did anything more than cram the 15 minutes before a test.
Come to find out, the only exceptions were a little bit of focused attention for mid-terms and what he called “hyper-focus” for finals, which he had to ace. When I asked why he needed to ace those finals he explained that he had a deal with his parents. They’d help with tuition so long as his GPA remained above the “C” range. By his own acknowledgment, he did the bare minimum all semester except for those finals when he’d put his nose to the grindstone–studying his ass off until he knew all the material forward and backward.
At this I gently inquired, “Would it be fair to say you only actually studied one night per class?” He laughingly conceded the point. This is when I asked the all-important question: “So have you ever, in your whole life, attended a Bible Study in which the group actually studied Scripture? And by that I mean you dug into it with the same hyper-focused attention, and dire need to know the material, that you had for those college finals?”
A wave of illumination came over my friend. You could see on his face that he was reconsidering many years of experiences. He went quiet for a solid 60 seconds before finally answering, “Ohhh! By study you don’t mean talking about it and learning a few things. By study you mean STUDY.”
“Yes, by study I mean study.”
“In that case, no, I’ve never done that with the Bible. But, dude, that’s not the point of a Bible Study.”
This is when I face-palmed myself like Captain Picard.
In yesterday’s article I wrote,
As for “Study,” Google defines this noun as “the devotion of time and attention to acquiring knowledge on an academic subject, especially by means of books” or “a detailed investigation and analysis of a subject or situation.” A Bible Study, then, is a detailed investigation of the collection of most sacred religious writings of the Christian faith.
Studying doesn’t mean skimming. Studying doesn’t mean learning a couple things. Studying doesn’t mean doing some last-minute cramming. Studying doesn’t mean offering general reminders of what is already known. What studying does mean is a devotion of time and attention. Key word: devotion. Studying means a detailed investigation and analysis. Key word: detailed. Just like during finals, studying means hard work with focused attention.
Call me crazy, but by “study” I actually mean study.
