The Bible has been stolen! The thief is not the communist we feared during the Cold War. Nor is he the terrorist who pushes for jihad. Oh, we still have lots of copies of the Scripture lying around. In fact, the Bible remains a best seller in book stores. But its message is missing. Less than 8% of American schools have a Bible class. The Bible narrative is foreign to most students. But what is worse is the insidious and effective scheme to steal the message by promoting interpretive lenses those who read it regularly.

Of course this scheme is not new. The Israelites were guilty of misinterpreting the Scripture they hallowed so reverently.

They totally missed the point of the Scriptures as they interpreted them from a narrow literal perspective. They expected all God’s promises and prophecies to be physically literal. (Interestingly, many early church leaders still maintained a similar hope promoted by Jewish leaders. Time has proven wrong those who expected a quick military and geopolitical invasion from heaven.)

The apostle Paul writes to Timothy about the place of Scripture in his life and ministry.

He’s telling Timothy that properly embraced scriptures produce a man or woman fully equipped and competent for every good work. But the landscape of those who read the Bible reveals something much different. Instead of being competent, only a small percentage even engages in good works for the glory of God. They give less than 2% of their income to any kind of charitable cause. Their lifestyle of confusion is not much different from those who don’t believe and don’t read the Bible.

So in the midst of all the ministry conferences promising power and prophetic revelation; in the flood of books and blogs assuring us that the relevance of scripture is in the fulfillment of prophecy happening in the middle East; under the deluge of TV preachers parading novel interpretations of Scripture to tantalize American consumers fixated on health, wealth, and stealth, we can hear the faint but ascending cry from victimized believers: "I WANT MY BIBLE BACK."

There are several misconceptions of Scripture that rob its true message from us:

1. The Bible is a charm.

This lens sees copies of the Bible itself as somehow endowed with divine power that can protect or give good luck to those who have them in the house, on the dashboard, or in a pocket. Stories are told of soldiers whose lives were saved when a bullet hit the copy of the New Testament carried in a pocket. This has encouraged some to treat the Bible it like a holy rabbit’s foot.

2. The Bible is a book of moral stories and teachings to help us live a good life.

Interestingly we have to pick and choose which stories we want to read for this purpose. The Bible contains accounts of actions we don’t really condone in our "moral" society. We learn of courage when we read of David killing Goliath. We learn of faith when we read of Abraham’s journey. We learn of endurance when we read of Joseph or Job. But if we didn’t already have a definition of those virtues before we read the stories, how would we know to pick those stories? There are also stories of incest, murder, lying, stealing… all acted out by main characters. The Bible is no sanctified version of "Aesop’s Fables." It is not to be grouped with other ancient collections of moral codes and mythical stories.

3. The Bible is like an owner’s manual.

Recently, I heard a TV preacher say, "When we got our refrigerator we got an owner’s manual. When we received Christ we got another owner’s manual, and it is the Bible." Such statements lead people to view the whole Bible as a giant set of instructions. When we have a problem, we turn to the problem solving section and read it as if it was written to help us solve that specific problem. Some churches even refuse to produce a document of bylaws, stating that the Bible is their constitution.

4. The Bible is a compilation of random predictions, some already fulfilled and some yet to come.

This appeals to human curiosity and sells lots of books. It maintains that current newspaper headlines are fulfilling specific prophecies, especially in the Middle East. With baited breath people await another "prophetic" explanation of decisions made by political leaders of various countries.

The New Testament interprets Old Testament prophecy by pointing out its fulfillment. Contemporary preachers who declare current events to be fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy are claiming the same level of inspiration as the authors of the New Testament. This dangerous approach can lead easily to reducing the Scriptures to writings like those of Nostradamus or Edgar Casey or the Bible Code.

5. The Bible is primarily about Israel in the natural realm and about heaven in the spiritual realm

This approach arises from a rigidly literal approach to interpretation that makes the Old Testament superior to the New in that it gets to define the terms by being written earlier. All references to Israel and its future are kept literal and physical. Since Israel-as it was known in the Old Testament-is not around any more, there is much speculation about the nature of today’s Israel and what will happen in the future to produce another biblical Israel. The rest of mankind is judged in regard to Israel, and the church is a parenthesis in time as we wait for the "prophecy clock" to start up again. What starts that clock is up for much speculation and makes for lots of books and TV programs. This approach essentially takes the Bible out of the hands of ordinary believers. The average reader would not likely come to these conclusions. He or she must be trained by prophecy experts to understand the correct scenario. This provides an alternative to embracing the mandate to subdue the earth under God’s kingdom. It reduces the church’s role to evangelism, charity, and matters relating to the soul.

6. The Bible is written to me.

This approach views the Bible as a spiritual book in the sense that every text can be applied to the reader directly-even without historical context. Passages can be taken out of context because the Spirit gives them existential meaning. The Old and New Testament divisions don’t make much difference. It is just a matter of reading words and making a convenient personal application. Of course, the Bible is a spiritual book. It was inspired by the Spirit of God and can only be fully embraced when interpreted by Him. But the Spirit used human instruments in historical settings to convey His words, and we are responsible to take that into account.

So how do we approach the Scripture?

Paul teaches Timothy that the goal of all scripture is faith in Jesus the Christ. He is the only mediator between God and man. He interprets the Scripture that God has inspired and preserved for us. Since He is the goal and the subject of all God’s purposes on earth, the correct lens through which we interpret scripture is Jesus the Christ.

A priority for Jesus after His resurrection was to explain the Old Testament Scriptures to His disciples. (Luke 24:25ff) He explained it to them from a Christo-centric perspective. These Jewish men who were familiar with the expectations of Jewish leaders regarding the purposes of God were rebuked for not understanding the prophecies that referred to Him and His necessary suffering. But they were extremely energized by the full revelation they received from Jesus. They remarked to one another, "Did not our hearts burn within us when he opened to us the scriptures?"

The Scriptures give an account of history from the perspective of God’s purposes. As we know, history is not self-evident. It needs to be interpreted. The Bible gives us the grid to understand what has happened and what it means. Since God’s purposes all include magnifying the Son, each historical event recorded in the Bible points toward Jesus. God reveals reality as being about redemption for creation through creation. The Son is the agent of creation and the sustainer of it. In Abraham, Jesus is the Seed that will ultimately bring blessings where Adam’s sin brought curses. In Israel, Jesus is the ultimate Son of God through whom He will do His final work. In David, Jesus is the son of David who will reign over God’s kingdom on earth. In Solomon, Jesus is the wisdom of God for all the people of God. In the prophets, Jesus is the restoration of His people. In Matthew, Jesus is the fulfillment of Old Testament promise. In Mark, Jesus is the present King and His kingdom. In Luke, Jesus is the servant who will save creation. In John, Jesus is the first and final Word of God.

The New Testament completes and explains the Old Testament. What was anticipated in the Old is embraced in the New. The age to come has come, and we can engage that life now. The new creation has begun. Sin has been forgiven fully in the final sacrifice of the Lamb of God. Believers have been regenerated through the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. The love (agape) of God has been poured into the heart of each believer and he or she is freed from the obligation to live the self-centered life of flesh. The Law has been fulfilled, and the Spirit who lives within produces what that law promised but could not produce. All bondage produced by sin is subject to the liberation of the Spirit as the power of the resurrection is released. Reconciliation to God is accomplished and now we can get back to the original task of subduing the earth under His rule. As new creations, we have the same future as Christ. Since we are in Him, His life is ours.

So how do we approach a specific text? The obvious and simple answer is two-fold:

If it is an Old Testament promise and Jesus fulfills it, then I can expect certain blessings based on my "in Him" relationship. If it is a command, I can see where Jesus obeyed it and transferred the benefits to us. If it is a narrative, I can see the climax in Jesus and its affects on us. If it is a prophecy, I can see when and how Jesus fulfills it and if that affects me.

When I truly embrace the Scripture properly I will break forth in exuberant exultation and hurry to tell those I love about the good news of what God has done in Jesus. I will stand boldly with those who are tired of the thievery and cry,

"I want my Bible back."

To the superstitious, we say, "I want my Bible back".

To the moralist, "I want my Bible back."

To the legalist, "I want my Bible back."

To the mystic, "I want my Bible back."

To the literalist, "I want my Bible back."

To the existentialist, "I want my Bible back."

We are hungry for the bread of heaven, thirsty for the water of life, longing for the purpose of history. We refuse to reduce life to regulations. We abhor manipulative attempts to control our time, capture our money, and capitalize on our curiosity. We are tired of feeling ill-equipped to live and minister like Paul and Peter. Paul said we could be fully equipped, and we want it. Those who have stolen the tool of the Spirit can’t keep it any longer. We want our Bible back. We want to spend our lives with those who are obsessively enamored with Jesus and we will not settle for survival when victory is available. We are on a pilgrimage but not to some Zion of history past. We are on a trek to discover and then declare the glories of the Son for whom the world was created.