…The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. (John 6:63)

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Heb. 4:12)

…Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, (Eph. 5:25-26)

The Word of God is alive and powerful. The Scriptures are not only a source of accurate and reliable information – they themselves have the power to transform lives! When we are in the Word and the Word is in us, our lives are changed.

Books that are written about the Word of God are certainly useful (cf. Acts 8:26-35) – especially as they point us to the Word and help us understand it. But they do not have the same direct power as the Word of God; in fact, they have considerably less power.

Books that are written about books that are written about the Word have even less power. In a very subtle way, all in the name of scholarship, we get further and further away from life. The further away from the Word we get, the less the transformational power. We can still see bits and pieces of the Word – some vague reflections of Scripture – but we end up with our minds so cluttered with other things, and we lose the simple connection with the Word of life.¹ Then we wonder: Where is the power of God? Where is the presence of God? Where is the life-transforming truth? We knew it once but now it has been lost in the muddle of human tradition, in man’s debates about man’s debates.

We must return to the centrality and direct power of the Word of God.

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. (1 Cor. 1:20-25)

¹ Even 3^rd or 4^th generation books can contain some wonderful insights and be of value. However, we question whether such should be included in the “core curriculum” for emerging leaders.