"You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think

you'll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the

trees. These Scriptures are all about me. And here I am, standing right

before you, and you aren't willing to receive from me the life you

say you want" (John 5: 39-40 � "The Message Bible").

There's an old preacher

joke about the preacher who could go down deeper, stay down longer,

and come up drier than anyone else. That is,

he could go deep into the Bible and Biblical truths. He could ponder

the Scriptures long, hard, and wide. And then, when he finished his Biblical

exposition, he was dry as a bone. He had no application, no inspiration,

and no present day word for his audience.

A lot of that kind of stuff goes on in Bible study circles. Would-be

spiritualists hover over a verse of Scripture, often groaning, but when

it comes to what the Scriptures are all about, they are dry as a bone.

The Bible is about Jesus. The Old Testament talks about his coming. The

New Testament talks about that he has arrived and will come again. The

whole point of the Bible is to help people establish, develop, and enrich

a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

God's purpose through the Bible is not that people will moan and

groan and play spiritual games over the Scriptures. You know as well

as I, you can quote the whole Bible and be mean as a snake. You can have

a "word" from the Bible for any and every circumstance and

still burn in hell. Why, Jesus made himself sure that we knew that the

devil was a Bible thumper and could quote Scripture at the drop of a

match.

Churches are not seminaries. Seminaries are those institutions where

called men and women learn the Bible, how to study the Bible, and how

to teach others what the Bible means. Churches are those fellowships

and assemblies where we learn Biblical truths about how to develop and

enrich relationships with God and one another. In other words, how to

love one another.

I fear that more and more churches are finding their sense of worth

as seminaries and not as fellowships. In seminaries you demonstrate success

of compassion and love. I know I worked hard to earn the master of divinity

of degree and then years later the doctor of ministry degree. Only once

in the multitude of courses that I took did a professor comment on the

degree of love that I might have demonstrated. Imagine that. The very

place where you are suppose to learn about God and the Bible says that

God is love, I heard an evaluation of my love once.

Now, before you get your dander all up, of course, the church ought

to be a place where we learn what the Bible says. We ought to learn Biblical

principles and even memorize cherished passages. But did not Jesus say

that the world would know his disciples by their love for one another?

Should not we be bound to get love and be bound by love more than by

knowledge?

But I have a sneaking idea.

You can accept it or put it in your garbage. A seminary - much like a university - can become a huge institution.

The University of Georgia is fully fulfilling its purposes even with

35,000 students. Why? Knowledge is its basic goal. You can promulgate

knowledge with thousands of folks. You can't, however, foster love

and develop genuine fellowship among thousands of people at the same

time.

Churches are about love, fellowship, and healing. Seminaries are about

knowledge. Whom would you rather call if you feel a little near dead

or have a broken heart? You want some more knowledge or some love?

John Hatcher is pastor of Outreach International Center, 1091 South

Jeff Davis Drive, Fayetteville, Georgia 30215. 770-719-0303