The Bible is Designed to Transform Us, Not Make Us Feel Good.
Our world today is very focused on entertainment and emotions. The goal of many people is to be happy. A cardinal sin, according to our culture, is to hurt someone’s feelings.
Many churches and Christians have bought into this mindset. Most churches today do nothing more than entertain people. Their services, which they wrongly call worship services, are designed to put people on an emotional high and make them feel good. For the most part, modern preachers do not talk about sin, hell, confession, or judgement.
This mindset has corrupted most Christian’s view of scripture. Most church attenders think the Bible exists to make them feel good. The goal of their daily devotions is to get an emotional high. Pastors feed this desire by preaching so-called sermons that are full of uplifting stories, but short on content, depth, and conviction.
The problem with all this is the Bible is not designed to make us feel good. Instead, the Bible is designed to mold and change us. Hebrews 4:12 is one of the passages that describes the nature of the Word of God. The last phrase in particular teaches that the purpose of the Bible is all about transformation.
Watch the video to learn more or scroll down to read the transcript.
Transcript:
Our world today is very focused on entertainment and emotions. The goal of many people is to be happy. A cardinal sin, according to our culture, is to hurt someone’s feelings.
Many churches and Christians have bought into this mindset. Most churches today do nothing more than entertain people. Their services, which they wrongly call worship services, are designed to put people on an emotional high and make them feel good. For the most part, modern preachers do not talk about sin, hell, confession, or judgement.
Contemporary Christian Music is written with the same goals in mind. The words are shallow, self-centered, and non-judgmental. The melody, harmony, and rhythm create a mindless euphoria which puts people in a temporary state of bliss.
The Christian book publishing industry also caters to this mentality. Many devotionals are oriented around giving Christians a daily emotional boost which leads to a false high.
This mindset has corrupted most Christian’s view of scripture. Most church attenders think the Bible exists to make them feel good. The goal of their daily devotions is to get an emotional high. Pastors feed this desire by preaching so-called sermons that are full of uplifting stories, but short on content, depth, and conviction.
The problem with all this is the Bible is not designed to make us feel good. Instead, the Bible is designed to mold and change us. Hebrews 4:12 is one of the passages that describes the nature of the Word of God. The last phrase in particular teaches that the purpose of the Bible is all about transformation.
Before I get into Hebrews 4:12, let me alert you about some changes coming to Bible Mountain. On January 1 Bible Mountain will add a paid subscription tier and start posting everyday. All free subscribers will get at least one post per week. All paid subscribers will get a post everyday. I will have more information about this after I discuss Hebrews 4:12.
Let’s read Hebrews 4:12.
Heb. 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Let’s start with the word “living”. This verse says the word of God is living.
Over the centuries, many famous people wrote letters to their spouses which were preserved and published. If you would read those letters today, you would be reading something dead. The writer is dead. The original recipient is dead. Therefore, the letters are dead.
On the other hand, if you were to write an email to your spouse, that would be a living communication. You are alive and your spouse is alive. Therefore, the email is a living communication.
The writer of Hebrews called the word of God living. God is alive. The Bible is written to us. We are alive. Therefore, the Bible is living because it is communication between a living God and people who are alive.
The author of Hebrews also said the word of God is active. If a person is active, that means he is doing something or trying to make something happen. If a person is not active, he is passively waiting around for someone else to act. The word of God is active, meaning the word of God is acting to cause change.
The word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword. The Bible does not speak merely in broad generalities. The word of God is very specific and precise on many topics.
Look at the last phrase in verse 12. The word of God is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. The fact that the word judge is used indicates the Bible is not merely designed to entertain us or make us feel good. Instead, the Bible exists to judge. If the Bible judges our thoughts and intentions, then it follows that we need to make changes to our thoughts and intentions after the Bible judges our thoughts and intentions. Therefore, the Bible is designed to change and transform us.
Let me tell you more about the changes coming to Bible Mountain. On January 1, 2025, I will start a daily series of posts which will start in the Gospel of Matthew and read through the New Testament. Each post will draw a contrast between how humans want to think and act versus the priorities, values, and behaviors that God commands us to adhere to. The goal is to be transformed into Godliness.
The first several posts will be free and available to anyone and everyone to read. After that, at least one post per week will be free, the rest will be behind a paywall. The paid subscription tier will be activated soon.
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”