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 The Jackson Heights church of Christ, Columbia, TN

             Kingdom Living 2008

Living for the Lord - by Andrew Roberts

“He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him” (Proverbs 18:13).

Surely we can attest to the truth of this proverb. Our experiences teach us that when we make hasty decisions or judgments without being aware of all the facts, we reach poor, ignorant and often embarrassing conclusions.

Haven’t we all been there? We enter a room at the worst possible moment and make a snap judgment about what we “saw.” We catch the very end of a conversation and reach a misguided conclusion.  We rush to our friend’s aid when we’ve only heard their side of a story or conflict. And eventually, just like Paul Harvey, “the rest of the story” unfolds. Then we have to back peddle and apologize because we were hasty and wrong. Clearly, the immediate application of this proverb is get all the facts and then decide.

But do we look at the “whole matter” in our Bible study before we come to a conclusion upon any aspect of God’s teaching? Remember that all of scripture is inspired and all of God’s word is true (2 Tim. 3:16-17; Ps. 119:151). Thus the sum total of God’s word on any subject is the truth. Let’s take all it says. There are two prevalent temptations in Bible study that amount to answering a matter before one hears it.

1.   Jesus-Only Bible Study.
There are those who only study and abide by the “red letters” in their Bible. They have no need for the Old Testament or the New Testament beyond the Gospel accounts. Simply preach and teach the facts of Jesus’ life. Interestingly, in Acts 15, James noted that Moses was preached every Sabbath in the Synagogue (v.21). Did the Rabbi’s limit themselves to the facts of the life of Moses (Burning Bush, Red Sea, etc.)? No, they taught the entirety of the Old Law. Likewise, to preach Christ is to include everything pertaining to His new covenant (Acts 8:5, 12; Heb. 9:15-16).

 2.  Proof-Text Bible Study.
There are those who stop studying when they think they’ve found one verse to support their belief. The verse may be wrested from its context or twisted from its intent to support their claim. An example is those that teach salvation is by faith alone and cite Acts 16:31. But the Bible says a great deal more about salvation (Mk. 16:16; Acts 2:38; Jas. 2:24).

Let us seek the whole counsel of God before we answer a matter of Faith or practice, lest we be ashamed (Acts 20:27).

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