It’s dangerous to learn the scriptures.

Wait, you might be thinking, is my pastor advising against reading the Bible? That doesn’t sound right…

Indeed, I have encouraged you to read your Bible and study it, and I continue to do so. I’ve written in the past about the value of memorizing scripture so that words of comfort and encouragement might come to you when you need them most. Even better, you can share those passages with others, nourishing them with the words that are “sweeter than honey” (Psalm 119:103)

Our scriptures contain not just encouragement, but also command and warning– and this is where it becomes dangerous to know the scriptures. Your ego, your own desires, your comfort, your words, your habits, your interactions with others– all these will come under the judgment of God’s Word, to curb us from going wrong and to bring repentance when we have already crossed the boundaries of God’s kingdom.

You see, if you learn the scriptures, the Holy Spirit has a way of bringing them to mind right when you need them most but want them least. 

Imagine this: you have been treated poorly. Maybe by a stranger in the grocery store, maybe by a peer at work, maybe by a good friend. Your impulse is to be rude in response or to cut them out of your life, and suddenly you remember “God… has given us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18) and, upon reflection and prayer, you decide you’d better respond with kindness and, if possible, have a conversation to seek reconciliation. You might not get it! But that scripture has got hold of you, and you have no choice but to heed it.

Or another circumstance: you hear something bad, or perhaps merely juicy, about someone. Especially if the someone is a person you dislike or disagree with, you are immediately giddy with the opportunity to repeat this information to others, over coffee or at the gym or on social media. Often, the urge to repeat the news only increases when you know it will make that other person look bad. Just as you’re about to repost or repeat, you recall, “Let no evil talk come out of your mouths but only what is good for building up” (Ephesians 4:29). You realize that what you were about to share isn’t going to build anything up– and for that matter, you haven’t even checked to see if it’s true! The bubble of excitement sinks as the Holy Spirit uses the words to hold you in check, and instead of the fleeting high of what you were about to say, you are filled with the enduring peace that comes from obeying God’s commands.

For every moment that you need the reminder, “The Lord is my strength and salvation” (Exodus 15:2, Psalm 118:14, and Isaiah 12:2), you will also need the reminder, “Turn the other cheek” (Matthew 5:39). Along with, “The Lord is my shepherd,” (Psalm 23:1), you’ll need to conform yourself to “let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger,” (James 1:19).

Now you see what I mean when I say learning the scriptures is dangerous: because God’s Word constrains and confronts us. The Holy Spirit who is in you will not sit idly by as you go about your day. On the contrary, because of the great love God has for you, the Holy Spirit will do whatever can be done to “guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:79). 

So, you have a choice. You may choose to “hear and read and learn and inwardly digest” the scriptures (that one is from Martin Luther, not the Bible), or not. God sets before us “life and death, blessings and curses” and urges us to “choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:19). In the end, any way we choose will be dangerous– so let us choose the way God sets before us, the way that risks the “body” (that is, our egos, desires, and ways that draw us from God) “but cannot kill the soul” (Matthew 10:28).

And, finally: “May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely, and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23)