reshared with kind permission from Leadership Resources.
Jeff Gage, Leadership Resource International (LRI)’s Program Director for South Africa, joined pastor and host Tyrell Haag on his radio program, Table Talk with Tyrell, to discuss how to study the Bible. In the interview, Jeff shares an insightful summary of LRI’s approach to Bible study and sprinkles in compelling stories about on how God is at work through our ministry in Africa.
Even if you’re very familiar with LRI’s training, you’re not going to want miss this interview. (Their insightful conversation may just inspire you to grow a great beard, too.)
Many people believe that theological study holds little value. They say, “I don’t need theology; I just need to know Jesus.” Yet theology is unavoidable for every Christian. It is our attempt to understand the truth that God has revealed to us—something every Christian does. So it is not a question of whether we are going to engage in theology; it is a question of whether our theology is sound or unsound. It is important to study and learn because God has taken great pains to reveal himself to his people. He gave us a book, one that is not meant to sit on a shelf pressing dried flowers, but to be read, searched, digested, studied, and chiefly to be understood.
Watch the video here:
- 0:00:00—Introduction
- 0:06:00—Introducing Jeff
- 0:10:30—What are the most common mistakes people make when studying the Bible?
- 0:46:40—If All Scripture is profitable, why is context important?
- 0:51:10—Why is the New Testament written in Greek if the disciples were Jews?
- 1:02:10—Political views and preaching
- 1:13:35—Eschatological passages and keeping Christ supreme
- 1:32:20—Conclusion
Helpful Quotes and Excerpts
“There are two ways to read the Bible. One way will crush you, the other way will give you life.”
Jeff Gage: “In Zambia there as a man who was preaching the prosperity gospel. He’s always been doing that as a very fiery individual. He’s an older man now. [After two years of training,] he said this last week, “I will not preach that ever again. I repent from preaching that. That’s not what the Bible is teaching.” We were working the principles in the Gospel of Mark and the call of the gospel to suffer, enter into Jesus’ suffering, count the cost, take up your cross, follow Him really powerfully came home to him. If we had gone in there preaching against the prosperity gospel, he would have dug in his heels and become defensive. Instead of bashing our framework against his, we just got him digging into the Gospel of Mark and seeing who Jesus is and what Jesus was really saying. The Word of God powerfully impacted him. Now when the next guy comes in town teaching something else, this man will not be moved by it because the Word of God has personally impacted his life.”
Tyrell Haag: “If you take a photo of a group of people, when you get that group photo, what’s the first thing you do? You look for yourself. And that’s like what we do with the Bible. We read the gospel and we look at the group photo and say, ‘Where am I?’ Really we should be looking for where Jesus is.”
