The Hard, Heart Work of Bible Study Writing

Whoever is doing the work is doing the learning.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Today’s post is written by author and Bible teacher Erin Davis. Her latest Bible study, The Story of Joseph, is available now.

Whoever first uttered, “those who can’t, teach” has likely never struggled with the daunting task of instructing others on the infallible, inspired, and eternal Word of God. Teaching the Scriptures is hard, heart work, but don’t let me bury the lead. Deeper than the struggle is the beautiful, sanctifying work the Lord does in the hearts of those committed to sharing the Bible with others.

Small Beginnings, Big Transformation

I’ve had the joy of writing Bible studies and curriculum for many years now, but I didn’t know the difference between Ezekiel and an epistle when I wrote my first. Newly married and fresh out of college (where I earned a degree in PR, not Bible), my husband was serving as the youth pastor at our little church when he turned to me and said, “Can you teach the girls in the youth group the Bible?” “Sure,” I said. “How hard can it be?”

I’m grateful the Lord is an expert at using the inexperienced (and overconfident). And so, without the credentials or the credibility to do so, I started writing Bible studies and teaching them to a small group of girls in my living room. I hope I never forget those formative moments of sitting at the kitchen table with a Bible and a legal pad. The only tool in my toolbelt was a willingness to teach. It was in that ordinary, but sacred space that the Spirit guided me toward epiphanies that have shaped the trajectory of my life:

• “I am a writer.” Who knew?

• “I am a teacher.” Are you sure, Lord?

• And, most significantly . . . “The Bible is alive!” And I come alive when I read it.

God used those eager efforts to grow my students’ appetites for His Word and to give them the courage to live for Him in a culture that wooed them toward lesser loves. Those first students are now women; most of whom love His Word more now than they did those decades ago. And what started as an impulse, has become my obsession. Teaching the Word is one of the most satisfying and sanctifying parts of my life. It is also the chisel God has used most consistently and relentlessly to shape me into the image of His son.

Whoever is Doing the Work, is Doing the Learning

Because all Scripture is God-breathed and useful (2 Tim. 3:16), we can glean from it every time we open our Bibles. But something remarkable happens when we move past ingesting to instruction. This reality has shaped my long-term teaching philosophy: whoever is doing the work is doing the learning. In other words, don’t just read it, wrestle with it.

Bible study writing requires grit and grace in equal measure. Fortitude is necessary to roll up your sleeves and study the text of this ancient and gigantic book, much of which is filled with cultural references that do not match our own and supernatural realities revealed to finite people. It takes discipline to apply the right hermeneutics in the right order. The temptations to pluck out choice passages and pair them with a funny story are as endless as they are fruitless. And then there’s this: as much as a good Bible teacher needs to work to handle the Word rightly, our self-reliance works against us, not for us. A truly effective Bible teacher knows they are dust, their words are dust, and their efforts aren’t enough to change a single heart or mind.

One of the great mysteries of the Bible is that that which flows to us through the precious Word, often flows through us to others. Filled up and poured out, again and again and again. To teach the Scriptures faithfully requires the humble posture of “I’ll go first.” So much of the work of Bible instruction involves inviting the Spirit to transform you.

The Teacher’s Tension

Perhaps you’re still reading these words, because you’ve had a kitchen table epiphany of your own. Maybe, very much to your surprise, you find yourself compelled to teach the Word to others. You write about the Bible. You talk about the Bible. You dream about the Bible. The spring of Living Water inside of you is always bubbling up and running downhill to others. If that’s you, you already know that the words James wrote in his little book are truer than true.

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. —James 3:1

If we know our whole Bibles, we know James’ point can’t be salvific. There isn’t a special line in heaven for Bible teachers to be scrutinized by tougher standards than their students. Our salvation is grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, just like everyone else.

The judgement comes through our lives. If you’re going to teach the Bible, people (rightly) should expect you to know it and live it. And when you fail—and you will—your students are watching you to see if the message you’ve written or spoken about is true in your actual life. Will you repent, believe the gospel, and walk in freedom? Or will you hide, pretend, or allow sin to become entrenched? No words you put on paper (or a screen) can ever speak as loudly as your own faith does. To write a Bible study is to make peace with the target it places on you. Woe to those who write words they don’t really believe, teach truths they don’t live, and call others to a standard they don’t hold themselves to.

The longer I walk with the Lord and the more Bible studies I write, the more I realize that James was also describing the judgement that comes through the Word itself. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve set out to teach on a subject oblivious to my own blind spots, only to have my assumptions obliterated as I dug into the Bible. There’s a reason the apostle Paul called the Word a sword (Eph. 6:17). It’s sharp and deadly toward those parts of us that aren’t like Christ.

I’m fond of joking that I’ll be writing Bible studies on my death bed. In part, that’s rooted in a desire to make a difference until my last breath. But it’s also because writing Bible studies has changed me in ways I don’t ever want to see undone. Here’s a simple truth I hope I never become desensitized to: teaching the Bible has made me more like Jesus, my Teacher.

I said it before. I’ll say it again. Teaching the Scriptures is hard, heart work. It’s also undeniably worth it.

Bible teacher, I know you feel inadequate for the task. (You are.) You will face moments when it seems your students aren’t getting a thing from your efforts. (They may not be.) But you can be sure that the Word of God is accomplishing something in you, that cannot be achieved another way.

Keep teaching.

Keep writing.

Keep submitting yourself to the Master’s chisel.

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” —Matthew 28:18-20, emphasis mine