Mine or Minefield?

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness 2 Timothy 3:16 NIV

For the Christian, when choices and differences arise (and they do) the Bible is our place to go for the answers. However, there is no guarantee that we'll find something that ‘fits’ with our preconceived notions. The Bible when used as a tool to rebuke us is a real minefield, and we must be prepared to be opposed in our thoughts and manner through its pages.

However, the Bible is also a mine of good and useful advice to the seriously seeking Christian. The rebukes become a source of teaching and correction to our self seeking and wayward lifestyles.

I think it depends on how devout and serious we are about the life we lead and the example shown. Although Scripture is the final authority on all things spiritual, somehow we can still find our favourite verses which cover and confirm our point of view. Then we can hold our head high and say those words which effectively shuts down any other view, “The Bible says, and I believe the Bible every time”. If that is true, then by definition, one person’s interpretation and use of any verse is the only correct one, and until you line up with that Biblical view, you are in error. That is when Scripture becomes a minefield of epic proportions and cannot always be countered successfully, or with the needed grace.

I love the old Scottish observation of the proud mother of her son in his first military parade, who was heard to say, “Look, a’body’s oot o’ step but oor Jock”. It might be funny in that story, but not in matters of Scriptural interpretation. So, what is the Bible to you and me? Is it a minefield of rebuke, or a mine of welcomed training in righteousness?