Meet the Author, Join the Show
What it means to “live by the word."
“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” – Deuteronomy 8:3; also quoted by a very hungry Jesus in Matthew 4:4
As important as the roots of learning and loving are, the root of living is the sine qua non: the ultimate aim of meditation. If I study the chemistry of salt, fat, acid, and heat and salivate over cookbook photos but never take up knife and pan and make food, my learning and loving are in vain. (And I would starve to death!) Unfortunately, this can happen with spiritual things: we can have great learning, and even a form of love for spiritual truths, but never actually be nourished by them. Jesus warned about this in a parable:
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.” (Luke 6:46-49, emphasis added)
The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and the proof of meditating on God’s Word is in the doing.
The end goal of meditation is to “live … by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” To be fed, directed, and saturated by God’s living words. For my life to follow their melody; my soul to savor of their seasoning.
But what does that mean, exactly? What does it mean to “live by the word?”
Meeting the author: Seeing and worshipping God
Joy Davidman Gresham was an author who had a mystical experience of God during an especially bleak moment in her life.1 That experience led her to begin investigating who God might be. Her studies led her, among other places, to read works by C. S. Lewis, which in turn inspired her to read the Bible, which ultimately led her to conclude that Jesus was God. She became a Christian.
At [her mentor’s] urging, Joy wrote to C.S. Lewis about some of her thoughts on his books. …. Lewis's brother noted in his journal that Jack had received a fascinating letter from a most interesting American woman, Mrs. Gresham.
For the next two and a half years Joy and C.S. Lewis carried on a rich correspondence that intellectually and spiritually encouraged each of them.
That correspondence, sparked by the influence Lewis’ writing had had in Gresham’s life, led not only to them meeting, but ultimately to them marrying.
In the same way, living by the Word includes “meeting” – seeing, loving, and worshipping – its author, Yahweh who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Paul calls the Scriptures theopneustos, or “God-breathed.” The 66 books of the Bible were coauthored by God, and were written that we might know and enjoy him.
Among other things, the Scriptures tell us who God is. They reveal his character, detail his actions in the world, and share his desires. And because he is an omnipresent spirit, we don’t have to write letters or sail to England to meet him; he is here whenever we open his Word to read, speaking to us if we are willing to listen. That’s why the author of Hebrews says the Word is “living and active” (Hebrews 4:12): the living God speaks to us through his written words.
This doesn’t mean we have a mystical experience every time we read the Bible. Often it may feel like reading a biography of Abraham Lincoln or a letter from a lover in a different city. Those experiences are still valuable: they allow us to maintain a mental idea of a person we can take around with us. If I’m traveling without my wife, I like imagining how she would experience what I see and do there. Sometimes that’s what we have of God. (In other words, you can do worse than a WWJD bracelet).
But those moments aren’t wasted, because they’re preparing us for when we cross the sea of eternity to meet him face to face. When we find out, not if we knew him, but if he knew us: if we are welcomed home by our Father and Husband, or consigned to eternal exile by the King we have ignored. The relationship we’ve begun here will flower full either way.
Internalizing the script: Taking the playwright’s direction
I’ve written before about the metaphor of a drama, or play, for understanding Scripture. Kevin Vanhoozer didn’t invent the connection, but he’s written some great books using the metaphor of theater to understand Christianity.
A key element of that metaphor is that God is both the main character of the drama and also its director. God gives the authoritative directions on what plot we’re enacting and how we’re to live it out. In Vanhoozer’s words:
Scripture remains the church’s script, a divinely commissioned and authorized written witness to the ongoing drama of redemption, for which doctrine gives direction to disciples for understanding and participation. Scripture not only transcribes [i.e., records truth] but prescribes [gives direction].2
While the Scriptures don’t tell us exactly what to do in every situation – there is, in Vanhoozer’s metaphor, “improvisation” in how it’s acted out – they do tell us what kind of drama we’re enacting and what kind of character we’re to be.
For example, I’m a dad to young kids. The Word doesn’t tell me what to do in every parenting situation; but it does tell me what kind of dad I’m to be: godly, loving, authoritative without being cruel. I could ignore those things, but then I could not turn around and claim to be “living by the Word” in a meaningful sense. A dad who’s abusive or who never disciplines his kids isn’t, in that moment, being a Christian father. He’s living a different script.
Living the word means understanding it, then letting it direct how we live. When it commands or forbids, we obey. When it shows us wisdom or folly lived out in history, we consider what similar wisdom or folly might look like now and live accordingly. When it shows us what is lovely and what is to be hated, we try to train our hearts to love and hate what it does. We do this, not to follow some arbitrary rules, but to participate fully and joyfully in the great drama of God redeeming the world.
The story, including the quote, is from this biographical piece by Lyle Dorsett.
Kevin Vanhoozer, Faith Speaking Understanding, 24.