Guarding Against Bibloatry

Why do you love the Bible? I will freely confess to loving Bibles, but that is not the same thing as loving the Bible. Fourteen Bibles are presently stationed to the left of my desk and I have a specific love for each of them. Whether it be, the language, the translation, the notes, even the special binding - each of these aspects are things I find attractive about Bibles. It needs to be the right size. It must remain appropriately open as I teach and preach from it. You see the reason I love "Bibles" is because a copy of the Scriptures is the tool of my trade, pastoral ministry. I carry a copy to the coffee shop, into the hospital room, through the hallways of the nursing home, and up to the teaching lectern and the pulpit. Furthermore the Bible a pastor carries says something significant about his ministry. What passages are underlined? How easily does it open? Are the gold edges sufficiently missing - betraying a minister who "loves the Word?" What translation does He prefer? I can imagine construction workers having conversations about which power tools they prefer. Are you a DEWALT or a PORTER CABLE man? Pastors discuss Bibles in the same way!

But I am praying to be a man who loves the Bible for the appropriate reason. Our love for the Bible should necessarily be linked to our love for the God of the Bible. We should love spending time in the Word because it is through the Word that we encounter the God to whom the Word testifies.

Listen to the words of the Psalmist.

Let my cry come before You, O LORD; give me understanding according to Your word. Let my supplication come before You; save me according to Your word (Psalm 119.169-70).

Notice that for the Psalmist, the word of God is that which guides his prayer life. The word is a means by which he encounters the God whose Spirit inspired the word. So the word cannot be loved for its own sake. It must be loved for God's sake. Otherwise we are guilty of what I like to call Biblioatry - a love for the Bible that can be disconnected from our love for God. An ancient practice that guards against Biblioatry is lectio divina, or sacred reading. As early as the Third Century, Christians practiced this discipline of praying the Scriptures. Because of a desire to purge my life of Biblioatry I am researching lectio divina. An introductory book on this ancient discipline is Conversing With God in Scripture by Stephen Binz. I have added a link below. As I read the book, I hope to share my thoughts on the blog. But more than that, I pray the book increases my love for the God who gave me the Bible. May each of us love the Bible because in it we encounter to God of the Bible whom we are growing to love. 
Conversing With God in Scripture