A Christian Guidebook: Introduction (1)

So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. Acts 8.30, 31

Read and run
Habakkuk 2.2 instructs us concerning our use of the Word of God:

Then the LORD answered me and said:
“Write the vision
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.”

Habakkuk understood that he was to write down what God was revealing to him, which we have now as the Biblical book bearing the prophet’s name. God’s intention was that people should read Habakkuk’s words with understanding. He intends the same for the rest of His Word as well.

God has prepared in His Word a glorious revelation of all that is most important, that we may draw ever closer to Him and be fitted for works of ministry (Deut. 29.29; 2 Tim. 3.15-17). His Word is the Word of truth and life (Jn. 17.17; Jn. 6.63). He intends for us to read it, meditate on it, study and discuss it, receive and obey it, and incorporate it into our lives.

Further, in Habakkuk 2.2, God underscores the urgency of His Word. Having fed on what He reveals, rejoicing and giving thanks for what we learn there (Jer. 15.16), one additional duty awaits.

Run.

Somethin’s happenin’ here
Over the past couple of years we have seen a stirring of interest in the things of God. Even as church attendance has been declining, in other venues and from other directions, evidence suggests that something is happening in the hearts of people around this country.

We have seen extended seasons of prayer and pleading for revival on major university campuses. Entire ministries calling Christians to seek the Lord for revival have come into being and are growing in their outreach. Churches have set aside special periods of time to gather their people in prayer for revival. Groups of people are meeting locally and online to plead with God for revival, renewal, and awakening. The State of Tennessee set aside an entire month for prayer and fasting and repentance. The State of Louisiana committed to posting the Ten Commandments in every public-school classroom in the state, from kindergarten through university. In Oklahoma, the legislature ordered the Bible to be taught in public schools from grades 5 through 12.

Clearly, somethin’s happenin’ here. But it’s not the “battle lines” of division and destruction the pop group Buffalo Springfield heralded in 1967 in their song “For What It’s Worth”, and which we have been so familiar with through the first years of this century.

Granted, it is not yet clear what’s happening. But something is. The hearts of people are groping for something beyond themselves, something other than the worn out promises of secularism, materialism, relativism, narcissism, and tribalism that have swamped our land throughout the previous generation.

On your mark…
In his book, A Secular Age, Charles Taylor pondered the tenuousness of the dominant secular worldview and discerned an opening of opportunity for a resurgence of religious commitment. While many continue clinging to their immanent view of reality, others are beginning to “press towards some recognition of transcendence” (p. 545). The viability of a disenchanted, secular worldview—a world without God or any need for Him—is for many increasingly doubtful. Disillusioned people are becoming angry, but anger is not a long-term solution to disillusionment. Rather, one must either yield to despair or search for glimmers of hope elsewhere.

It is just possible that many people in our society are glimpsing the first glimmers of true hope. They may not yet be sitting in their chariots, poring over the book of Isaiah and wondering what all this means. Not yet, at any rate. But many are manifesting a longing for something other than the failed secular paradigm and lifestyle. And they may be open to considering God and His ways from those who will run up to wherever they are, offering to help.

And if that is the case, then we must prepare ourselves to run. Christians, Charles Taylor insists, must not be guilty of crushing human flourishing by a too-small vision of God and an unloving or unenergetic approach to our neighbors. Instead, we must study and prepare to “respond most profoundly and convincingly to what are ultimately commonly felt dilemmas” (p. 675). We must be ready to guide our neighbors out of the dark woods of wrong belief into the radiant meadows of the Sun of Righteousness, risen with healing in His wings.

But to do this, we must be ready guides. We must anticipate the questions our groping neighbors will ask and prepare to answer them clearly and intelligently (1 Pet. 3.15). We must be ready to lead them into the Word of truth and life which alone can pierce and transform the soul (Heb. 4.16). That achieved, we will be better able to set forth the option of Jesus with grace and patience.

This study is your call to the starting blocks so that, being renewed and equipped in the Word of God on a wide range of crucial topics, you might be ready to run in the joy of the Lord to help others.

Christian: Guides to Jesus are needed. On your mark.

For reflection
1. Why is it so important for every believer in Jesus to be a student of His Word?

2. Where do you “run” each day? That is, what do you see as your Personal Mission Field?

3. Have you mapped out your Personal Mission Field? Watch this brief video (click here), download the worksheet, and get ready to run.

Next Steps—Conversation: Share with a friend that you are beginning this study to refresh your understanding of important Christian teachings. Encourage your friend to join you.

T. M. Moore

Resources for your race
Download and share with your friends all the studies in this series by clicking here.

Need to brush-up on your understanding of Scripture? Two books can help. The Joy and Rejoicing of My Heart provides an overview and guide for reading and studying Scripture, to help you see more of Jesus in His Word and to carry out your calling to His Kingdom and glory. Order your copy by clicking here or a free PDF, here. Our workbook, Gods’ Covenant, offers you an interactive study of the progress of redemption from Genesis through Revelation. Order your copy by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.