Joel M Bradshaw

6Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.—Proverbs 30

Most people reading these words are not going to be adding a new chapter to the Bible or trying to discredit God in any way. But does this proverb have something to indeed keep in mind for the evangelical Christian today?

1. Beware the trap of leaning on your own understanding. A person might say or think things like, “The God I understand doesn’t say that!” or “The Bible I read doesn’t mean that!” Maybe it looks like, “You know, God cares more about [ ] than [ ].” We don’t need statements about God when the Bible is clear. Theology is best when it’s biblical.
2. Beware the trap of the microphone. You think that because people listen to you that you have the power to use that influence to add things to the Bible. The greatest heresies in history involved heretics adding to Scripture or subtracting from Scripture. Anytime anyone claims to hear from God better be giving a revelation that is already in the Bible. There’s a great difference between saying that God is speaking to you with your Bible open and with your Bible closed. Once something new is introduced by an individual, it brings subjectivity to a very objective text. I can’t trust God anymore when He is now dependant upon you and your utterances. People add when they want more power. People subtract when they don’t like the message. Say, ignoring things like election or predestination.

Either a person trusts God and the Bible or they don’t. Changing God’s Word will only lead to a rebuke from the very God you claim to serve. Not a good thing. So when you read the Bible, don’t make your understanding of it the same importance as the Bible, itself. As a pastor who blogs and teaches, my attitude must be, “What does the Bible say and how does my life therefore change?” and not anything else about myself. Otherwise I am in danger of falling into the traps.–JMB