Spelunking scripture is a method of Bible study for exploring important passages of the Bible. It involves going beneath the surface of a scripture passage to seek to discover not just what the passage says but what the passage means. The purpose of most Bible studies is to determine what the text says. Spelunking scripture seeks to move deeper to determine what the text says to me. How does the text speak to my life? What meaning does the text have for my situation?
A part of the method of spelunking scripture is to identify important Bible passages. All scripture is inspired by God, but not every passage is of equal value. Clearly, some passages of the Bible are more important than others. From a Christian perspective, the words of Jesus are of ultimate importance. Yet, even some words of Jesus are of more importance than others. Similarly, some passages in the letters of Paul are more important than others. Likewise, some passages in the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles and the General Epistles of the New Testament are more important than others. Not surprisingly, some passages in the Old Testament are more important than others. One objective of spelunking scripture is to determine what are some of the most important passages of the Bible.
A second objective of spelunking scripture is to seek connections between the message to the original hearers/readers and its relevance for modern hearers and readers. That is essentially the purpose of most sermons. The preacher seeks to explore not just what the text meant in its original setting, but what the text might mean for our contemporary circumstance. During my 33-year tenure as pastor of Village Baptist Church in Bowie, Maryland, I composed and delivered almost 1500 original Sunday morning sermons based on important passages of scripture. In each sermon I attempted to identify points of contact between the scripture text and the congregation’s context. Often, I used stories to seek to connect the scripture passage with life today. I even wrote a book about it, Storytelling in Preaching.
In a similar way, storytelling can be an instrument of Bible study. Storytelling can help us move beneath the surface level of scripture reading to a deeper level of scripture interpretation. Stories can be used to help us explore how God is continuing to speak to us through his Holy Word. Spelunking scripture invites us to connect the story of scripture with our story. Join me as we explore beneath the surface of some of the most important passages of the Bible.