Inerrancy and Ignorance

Here in the Bible-belt region of the USA there is a phenomenon that occurs in religious circles akin to the culture of the religious in first century Palestine. That phenomenon of which I speak is the ability of church folks to believe in the inerrancy of Scripture while, at the same time, not taking the time to read it, learn it or memorize it. It really is an interesting thing.
You've doubtless read by now that I am committed to the concept of inerrancy. I beleive the Bible is truth, without any mixture of error and that means I trust it. Belief in inerrancy, though, doesn't necessarily mean I practice it. Here's how it works. A Christian person says he believes the Bible is absolutely correct and without error, but he never reads it and really doesn't know what it says. This person's lifestyle then tells the tale about his true conviction. This person may think he knows what the Bible says about life, but, in fact, has never read it and actually bases his worldview on what he thinks the Bible says. This is an interpretation based on ignorance and it is a powerful strong hold to break.
The person who builds his lens for viewing the world on what he thinks something says is akin to someone practicing medicine without a license - he can use the words and might have some skills, but he'll mess you up! These are the people who get confused between what the Bible says and what they've always done. In other words, they equate their tradition with the law and the tradition becomes the thing that is inerrant - not the Bible. Even if someone takes the message of the Bible to them in an effort to correct their erroneous thinking, they'll refuse to hear it and may even become hostile to the messenger. Does this sound familiar? This is exactly what happened to Jesus during his earthly mininstry. They understood inerrancy, but they applied it to the wrong thing. Then, in their ignorance, they become puffed-up, arrogant religious people.
Let me give you another scenario to try an illustrate the point. Say a Christian man who understands and practices inerrancy comes to hold a grudge against a friend for a wrong done to him. He may claim to be an inerrantist and actually use the Bible to defend his right to hold a grudge against this person who wronged him. He might say something like this, "The Bible says, 'Whatever a man sows that shall he also reap.'" He might say something like this, "Well, I know what the Bible says about forgiveness, but even if I forgive him, I'll not forget it!"
In the above example, this person blatantly disregards biblical teaching on a subject in favor of his own warped interpretation or in favor of his own rebellious spirit. Either case, the guy does what he wants rather than what the Bible says. This is called disobedience. One knows the truth, respects the truth and believes the Bible to be true, but disregards it in order to do his own thing. With this comes the conviction of the Holy Spirit, an opportunity to repent and confess and an opportunity to be restored into fellowship with God.
Concerning those who in ignorance uphold tradition or some other thing as inerrant, there is the danger of quenching the Holy Spirit and missing the opportunity for repentance, confession and restoration. This is what happened to the Pharisees and Sadducees. They upheld the wrong thing (be it the law, their opinion or their biases) as inerrant and missed the work of God. Consequently, they crucified the Lord. I wonder how many religious people, today, would do the same thing given the opportunity?
So....what are we to do? It really is a simple matter. As Christian people we are to be guarded against the possibility viewing as inerrant our tradition or opinion. We are to nurture our personal relationship with the Lord Jesus by spending time reading this thing called the Bible and seeking to surrender to its teaching in the power of the Holy Spirit. We are to decrease our level of ignorance by studying the word, spending time in meaningful and authentic fellowship with other beleivers and we are to find simple ways to be genuine in our service to God by meeting others at their point of need - where they live.
An inerrantist can be one of the most arrogant persons you would ever meet. We've all known that kind of inerrantist. The kind of inerrantist that anyone would like to meet and the kind of inerrantist who has the power to change the world and the inerrantist who can passionately share the Gospel without beating people with the Bible, is the guy or gal who simply seeks to surrender his / her life everyday in everyway to the Lord and His Word. Would you join me in being that kind of inerrantist?