You Know More of the Bible Than You Think You Do

I was leading a course at our church. As I was navigating through my notes, and our folks were filling out the handout, I noticed a raised hand in the back.

He was a new face to our church. That might have been his first day actually. Typically, people didn’t raise hands in this type of setting. He didn’t know any better, and I didn’t mind.

“Yes sir, do you have a question?”

“Yeah. You said that idea was in the New Testament. So does that mean there’s an Old Testament?”

“Yep, you are right. That’s a great observation. My bad, I should have covered that. Let me go back a couple of steps.”

As I took about three minutes to talk through the way that new Bible just given to him worked on the table in front of him, the other hundred people in the room knew what I was saying, but you could also tell they were shocked that I had to say it.

After the course, I was talking with some of our church members who brought up the interaction.

“Pastor Travis, I can’t believe that young man didn’t even know that. You handled that surprising question well.”

“I appreciate it, but it reminded me that we can’t take anything for granted these days. People really don’t know the Bible anymore. But let me ask you folks a question: how many of you knew there was an Old Testament before you came in here tonight?”

They looked at me puzzled.

“Of course we knew that. We’ve known that since we were kids.”

I asked the question because many people in that group had recently told me they didn’t know enough of the Bible to teach anyone anything of significant value. They didn’t feel equipped. They weren’t ready to disciple someone. They just needed to know a little bit more.

“So, you mean to tell me that you knew something that he didn’t? You knew something that you probably take for granted which was eye-opening to him. You know more of the Bible than you think you do. And you could teach more than you think you could.”

I share that example with you because you have something to offer. I know you don’t know as much as you should or wished you did. I’ve got degrees studying the Bible, and I still feel like I need to know more. But what I do have is something. And it might be a pretty big something to someone who has nothing.

I know you could know more, but I guarantee what you do know could be life-giving to someone else.

The biblical information that you take for granted might be life-giving to another.

So, what do you know? And who are you sharing it with?

and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.

2 Timothy 2:2