FamilyLife Today®

Faith Womack: I think the dinner table is one of the most important things a family can do together. If you're not eating regular meals, I highly encourage you to spend that time. After you talk and have heart-to-hearts and hear about the day, even just end on a paragraph from Scripture. Maybe work your way through the Gospels; see if you can do that in a year.

Ask them, "What did you see about Jesus in this passage? What did you see about the Jews and how they responded to Jesus in this passage? How does this make you view Jesus differently?" Those three questions will transform the way that your children see Scripture.

Dave Wilson: Welcome to FamilyLife Today, where we want to help you pursue the relationships that matter most. I'm Dave Wilson.

Ann Wilson: And I'm Ann Wilson. You can find us at familylifetoday.com. This is FamilyLife Today.

Dave Wilson: Faith Womack is back in the FamilyLife Today studio talking about "No More Boring Bible Study." I really liked even yesterday how she talked about why she's so passionate about this and how important it is to take God's Word and use it correctly.

Ann Wilson: Help our listeners. Some of them are parents and they are like, "I don't want to teach the Bible wrongly to my kids. So, how do I teach it right?" And then I've got the verse I want to find out what you think it means.

Faith Womack: I love the intent of wanting to make sure you are doing it right because that shows that you believe it's true and you want to be faithful to it. That's where we have to start. That's why my book starts there.

What we're really getting at is intro hermeneutics, which is the study of how we read and interpret the Bible. That's based on author's intent, the type of genre it is, why it was written, and for whom. Who were they writing to? At what time in history? To discuss what problem? How did these ancient people understand an old poem or an old song? Are they mirroring an Egyptian love song?

Guest (Male): I think you should do it. Take one of your Psalms that you've been studying. Look at that Bible all marked up. Let's do it.

Faith Womack: Last week I studied 107, and it's right at the beginning of the fifth book of the Psalms. When you're entering into the Psalms, you need to understand that they were originally sung and they were written at all different eras in Israel's history by different people and then later compiled. That's where we get five books of the Psalter.

The five books of the Psalter all tend to have different angles and different things that they include that are reflective of who wrote them and why. Big picture, from Psalm 1 to 150, you're moving from lament to praise. Here at the start of book five, it's really interesting because Psalm 107 opens up and is basically answering a prayer.

Psalm 106, the ending of book four, left off and said, "God, I really hope you'll bring us out of exile," in so many words. Psalm 107 opens up and says, "He did." Let me read it for you.

Guest (Male): First question about your Bible: what translation?

Faith Womack: ESV. Bible translations are tools. The translations, for the most part, are different angles of really trying to explore how we faithfully translate Scripture to not move too far from the original languages but still also translate the thought. It's a whole spectrum. I've made many videos about it and we talk about it in my book. I do teach from the ESV because that's what my church preaches from and this is just the Bible my husband bought me.

Psalm 107 then opens up and answers a prayer and says, "Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever." He gathered in from all the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. He gathered us up. It's just the answer of, "He brought us out of exile," and praising God for that.

Then it works through four different, not really specific, but vague situations of deliverance. I love it because the four different situations all start with distress, then they move to prayer—specifically prayer to Yahweh, all capital L-O-R-D. Then they move to describe how God delivered them, and then they move to thanks.

They do that over and over and over again. In my Bible notes, I marked those four parts of each of those historical situations in red, orange, yellow, and green. I can see the rainbow of God's deliverance over and over again through the Psalm as it unpacks. Then it moves into praise.

It closes with, "Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord." I did a whole word study on that word "steadfast love." It's a Hebrew word that's repeated all throughout the Old Testament. It's my favorite Hebrew word: "hesed." It's God's mercy and His faithfulness even when we are unfaithful. You could do a great study on that word if you all haven't looked into it.

That's an overview of some of the things that I look at in Scripture. How is this Psalm outlined? It shows us what the author was trying to communicate—that it shows us their prayers and then how God delivered and then how they praised God for that deliverance. They did it over and over and over again and concluded in praise at the beginning of this praise book of the Psalms. That really informs the way I read it, I study it, and then I apply it to my life.

Ann Wilson: And so then, when somebody's done with that, is there a point that they say, "Now how does this apply to me? What does this mean to me?" without taking all of that out of context?

Faith Womack: Scripture is not really studying it if it doesn't change our lives. But I think we all want to jump to the application and we forget to look at the cultural context, the literary context, and the meaning right there in the text through the words used. We jump to application, and that's how we're misusing it instead of looking at it as what it was originally and still stands as today.

Guest (Male): Okay, you want the verse? How do you understand it, interpret it, and then apply it? You know it; everybody's heard it. It is a very common verse: Matthew 18:20, where he's quoting Jesus and he says, "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am with them." Most of the time I hear it interpreted as, "There's two of us here, Jesus is with us. There's three of us here, Jesus is now with us." People are like, "Yeah, so isn't that true?"

Faith Womack: Yes, but is that what it means? He's also there with us on our own when we are alone in the cave, like David in his Psalms. He's there with us when we are absolutely isolated and everyone has rejected us. God is not a God dependent on us gathering in His name.

When we take Bible verses like that out of context, it's because we're looking for rules. We're looking for a checklist. We're looking for a promise because we haven't trusted God in His original promises.

I have talked a lot about Bible verses taken out of context, but I always want to be hesitant because I don't want someone to feel shame if they've misused it. They were cultured to do that. So many other people throughout church history and the last 100 years have misused certain verses.

If we believe it's true, we'll want to be faithful to the author's intent. I do not believe Matthew is saying that God is only there with us when only two people are gathered. I think it's important to acknowledge that the reason why we misuse it is because we're looking for a promise that's already been set for us in Scripture. What we're really searching for is something deeper underlying. Do we have our faith placed in Jesus or in our ability to gather in groups of two?

Dave Wilson: If I'm a parent and I just heard our conversation about Matthew 18:20, I'd be saying, "Okay, so if it doesn't mean that, what does it mean? How do we find out what it means?"

Faith Womack: You go back to the context. I don't have time to develop this for you today, but if you go back to verse 15, which is just four or five verses back, this is where this verse comes out of. "If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over."

The context is when you have a conflict with somebody. It gets messy. There can be a tendency to think, "This is so messy, God has abandoned us." He's reminding you that when you're gathered together to resolve a conflict, I am right there. It's a church discipline context situation.

That's so important for people to understand. There's a literary context of what goes before and after a Bible verse, and then there's the historic context. Sometimes that's where it actually cuts down deeper and is more encouraging. Matthew's writing to Jewish Christians trying to encourage them that Jesus really is the promised Messiah.

Think about Jewish Christians. They were raised Jewish with all these cleanliness laws and the Jewish culture, and then all of a sudden Christ comes and fulfills the law in and of Himself. Now they're like, "Then how do we follow the cleanliness laws? Do we eat the sacrificed meat to idols? How do we live with these Gentiles now and eat the Lord's Supper?" They're facing conflict. Now we read that Bible verse and that takes my understanding of conflict so differently.

It's not about us figuring out all the debates and having all this disagreement; it's so much about gathering in the Lord's name. There's the literary context, there's the cultural context, and there's so much to discover. I fear that it sounds like work to some people. I fear that it's overwhelming to them. So I want to encourage you that you have the time and the ability. The Lord would not lead you to this and make you aware of this problem only to lead you to never be able to address it. It's not hard.

If I can do it, you can do it. Sometimes it can be as simple as a Google search: "When was this written and why?" That will transform your reading of the text. These are things that transformed my life. I had to pay and learn them in undergrad and seminary, but I think all Christians should know this stuff so that we don't perpetuate the abuse and the misuse. If we really believe it's true, we'll be faithful to it.

Ann Wilson: The more you taste of God's Word, the hungrier you become. It changes your life. How do you think it's changed you?

Faith Womack: You would really get the best answer from my husband because he's seen me in my lowest of lows and the highest of highs. He will honestly be like, "Faith, I think it's time for you to go to your office, go pull out your Bible, and go rest." I need it. It is my anchor. I don't feel like myself if I'm not in the Word because it's become so part of how I anchor myself.

I used to find my identity in my family, in what I did, and in things I could measure, like the size of my jeans or the follower count or how many times I made it to church or that Bible study. Now my identity is tied up in the promises of God's Word that don't change, that don't fluctuate, and that don't go away. I need that. In every low or high of life, you need to be rooted in what is actually true. I think we lean towards the easy stuff and the measurable stuff that the world can give us, but it will never satisfy us.

Dave Wilson: What would you say to the parent who's raised their kids in the Word and now their children are adults and they've walked away or they've deconstructed? What do you say?

Faith Womack: I love that question because it points me to one of the most beautiful truths in Scripture that we see over and over again through all the different narratives. Our God portrayed in Scripture is a God that works in, through, and despite you over and over and over again.

So often as parents, we think that it's our job to save our kids, to do everything right, and to make their life go exactly how we think it should go. But our God isn't dependent on us like we are dependent on Him. He gets to work in, through, and despite us.

Take it to God. Prayer moves mountains. God is not afraid of deconstruction or children's questions or them walking away from the faith. In fact, God is so big that He will continually work in, through, and despite us. His children walked away many times. I think we need to be set free in the promises and the comforts of how big our God is.

Dave Wilson: Why were you emotional when you started that?

Faith Womack: It's a life-changing truth. Coming here and sharing about my book or having those conversations with my boys, I can get in my head. I think it's all about me and I have to do it right and I have to have all the answers and I need to show up right.

But the comfort in Scripture is that God works in, through, and despite us over and over and over again. I want you to think about Nicodemus. I want you to think about Nebuchadnezzar, David, and Esther. God works in, through, and despite us. That's one of the most applicable truths for us as Christians because I think we get so in our head and take ourselves so incredibly seriously. We think we have to do it all perfectly and all right.

Really, what that is, is a small view of God. "Lord, I am your vessel. Whether broken, chipped, or in pieces, I'm yours to use." Ultimately, I think we all need to have that stance. It's the most worshipful stance we can have. Even in my brokenness, even in my not-enoughness, even in my kids' brokenness, even in my frustration with my child or the way they've walked away from the faith, Lord, use that for Your glory. Maybe just maybe it could lead somebody else to the faith. Maybe just maybe it could lead me back to the cross. Maybe just maybe it could do so much good and in the meantime heal some brokenness, even in my child's life.

Ann Wilson: I feel like that was for so many parents. When we look at our kids, we can feel so much shame or disappointment or feel like God's disappointed in us. He's so much bigger than our failures. I think of all three of us and the pain we've walked through through our marriage and through our past. God can still use us. It's a miracle and it's the beauty of the Gospel.

Dave Wilson: So often we allow our happiness or fulfillment in life to be governed by how our kids are doing. If they're doing great, we are great. If they're doing poorly or even walking away from what we tried to live their whole life, it's like our life is ruined. That's an idol. As Tim Keller would say, when something bad happens and you're sad, that's life. But when it's the ultimate and you're going to jump off a bridge because of it, that's an idol. It's more important than it should be.

The only thing that matters is God and His Word. That's the barometer of my life—not whether they're doing well or not doing well, not whether my marriage is doing well or not doing well. Although we want all of that to do well, it's not as important as what you just said: what He's doing in, through, and despite. We forget the "despite" part. That was so beautiful and true.

Faith Womack: I think of King Cyrus. He did the decree to rebuild Jerusalem with Ezra and Nehemiah. He's just a pagan trying to please his pagan gods, but God worked in, through, and despite him. It's over and over again in Scripture, and that sets me free. That's what the Word does. Every time I'm in the Word, I'm reminded who God is. I don't have to be afraid. This is the God I serve. I'm reminded who I am in Him. He loves me, He sees me, He's with me, and He's redeemed me.

Dave Wilson: I hope you're inspired today to become a man or woman of the Word. Especially couples. I talk to so many men who want to love their wives. I'll tell you what, the best way you could love your wife is to be a man of the Word. Am I right?

Ann Wilson: Absolutely. That's not only romantic; that is powerful.

Dave Wilson: If you're like me and you're like, "I'm not very good at that," you can be. We've got a book for you to help you do that. This isn't just for men; it's for everybody. Just go to familylifetoday.com and there's a link there where you can buy Faith Womack's "No More Boring Bible Study."

If a sermon is boring, it's because the pastor's boring. It's not because the Word of God's boring. How can you take this book and make it boring? That's on them. The book is not boring, but often we don't understand it. This is going to help you become the man or woman of the Word you want to be.

Ann Wilson: If you're a woman and you're waiting for your husband to get in the Word, don't wait on him. Just get in the Word yourself because it will change your life and your view of your husband and your family.

Dave Wilson: If you really want to dig in, you can go to biblenerdministries.com. FamilyLife Today is a donor-supported production of FamilyLife, a Crew ministry. Fifty years of helping you pursue the relationships that matter most.