Skip to content ↓

The Bible Is Not About You

This week the blog is sponsored by Lifeway, who also wrote this article.

On the surface, most Christians would agree with the title of this post. Yet, we so often read and study the Bible in a way that says the opposite.

When we read the stories of the Old Testament, we draw moral conclusions to inform how we live our lives.

  • We see in Noah a model of how to live righteously in the midst of a generation where everyone’s hearts are set on evil.
  • We learn from Abraham that we should not hold anything back from God, just as he did when he put his only son on an altar.
  • We read about how David kills Goliath, and draw the conclusion that God will help us slay our own giants.

The same is true of the parts of the Bible that aren’t narratives: the Psalms and Proverbs, the Major and Minor Prophets, and much of the New Testament. We read these to tell us how to live—or how not to—and draw on our own pursuit of spiritual discipline to obey.

While some of us may wonder what’s wrong with that, what if this approach causes us to miss a truth that is so singularly important and life-altering it completely reframes what we understand the Bible to be? What if it prevents us from seeing that there is something so much more going on in the Bible—something more than its stories and letters in isolation?

What if, by reading the Bible as if it were about us, we miss the story that God has been telling?

Through every passage of Scripture, through every story and parable and prophecy, God is telling one story: God’s plan to rescue His people from sin through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. The Righteous Man who rescues sinners. The Faithful Son who laid down His own life for His friends. The Glorious King who slew the ultimate giant, sin, and death, to redeem His people.

This is the story that The Gospel Project shares with kids, students, and adults every week. And this Fall, we’re beginning a new three-year journey through this story where people of all ages will see how God’s gospel project unfolds—the one that began “in the beginning” and continues today in the hearts and lives of His people.

The story that is better than any story that begins with us.

The story that changes everything.

Learn more at gospelproject.com/preview.


  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (November 21)

    A La Carte: Lessons from Trump’s and Harris’s social media campaigns / What is my spiritual gift? / The messages we receive / 10 mistakes I’ve made in preaching / Big Kindle and book sales / and more.

  • Finn

    I’m a Grandfather!

    Yesterday Abby and Nathan welcomed their first child into the world: Finnegan Safir Nicholas Elfarrah. Because they live just minutes away, Aileen and I were able to be there shortly after his birth to rejoice with them and to meet our first grandchild. We are thrilled beyond measure. And he is cute beyond belief. They…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (November 20)

    A La Carte: Pray till you pray / Do children need to consent to puberty? / Pleading for Sodom / A thought experiment / 10 mistakes when reading the Bible / Kindle deals / and more.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (November 19)

    A La Carte: Good night, my son / The longing for justice following sexual assault / Daughter of encouragement / Mistakes I made as a theological student / The dangers of disordered love / Kindle deals / and more.

  • What Grieves the Heart of God

    What Grieves the Heart of God?

    What pleases God? What delights his heart? And what displeases God? What grieves his heart? If asked, I think most of us would assume that if we ever grieve the heart of God it will be through denying the gospel or committing a grave moral scandal. Or if we do so as a local church,…