Why do we read the bible?

In one of my biblical studies classes this semester our professor asked the class a question regarding how we use the bible in our daily live and what is it's practical purpose in our lives.  One of my esteemed classmates responded that he is glad to know about the bible so that he can find the "true" meaning of passages and see how they line up with what he already thought.  

Now to be fair that wasn't exactly what he said and that may not have been what he really meant but it got me thinking about what the point of all this Biblical reading is.

In the course of my studies at North Park I have read pages and pages of commentaries, done word studies, Listened to hundreds of hours of lecture, and run my mouth dry discussing biblical themes and ideas with my friends and classmates.  I have been given many tools to use when coming at the bible.

But what is the purpose of these tools why do we come at the text do we come looking for validation or truth?  Many people read the Bible with what they see as a general understanding of what the bible means as a whole.

The Bible is about personal salvation and saving me from hell

The Bible is about having a loving relationship with an estranged God

The Bible is about helping the poor and caring for the downtrodden

The Bible is about social upheaval and revolution for the oppressed

The Bible is about preparing for the end of the world

The Bible is about telling us what we can and cant do

the list goes on...

These general understandings may fall into these categories and could be combination of all of them plus a few others but the point is when we read the text we already "know" what it is going to say.

We search for meaning that fits into our already neat categories of belief and anything that doesn't, we force into our already established belief or explain away.

This is done by everyone on all sides of biblical interpretation issues, Pro War Christians look to the Old Testament battles and seek to explain away the pacifism of Jesus while Anti War Christians  seek to do the reverse.  Anti Gay Christians look to Leviticus seeing homosexuality as an abomination but gloss over other Leviticus prohibitions and the call to love others while the other side is guilt of the same selective reading.

We all come to the Bible with our prejudices, politics, and backgrounds and it is important to acknowledge their existence but it scares me to hear someone openly admitting that they come to the text looking to justify convictions.

The purpose of the Bible is to shape in us as Christians how we see politics, ethics, family, friends, enemies, homosexuals (I heard somewhere that that's not politically correct anymore but i don't know what is so sorry), political correctness, minorities, poverty, sin, death, salvation, life, love, business, and every category that shapes you as a living believing and convictions having human being.

We should when reading the bible seek change and form our convictions in relation to the Word of God not cut up the bible and fit it into our pre-existing convictions!  We as Christians need to be people of the book, not people with a book to show why were right.

That is why we read the bible, and yes it is impossible to be completely unbiased but we need to do everything in our power to take the text at what it says without reading in what we think it should say.

...ok I'll shut up now.

-Todd