Reading Scripture Without Making Ourselves the Center

LESSON TITLE

Reading Scripture Without Making Ourselves the Center

ESTIMATED TEACHING TIME

18–22 minutes

CORE IDEA

Scripture is written for us, but it is not primarily about us.

Faithful interpretation resists turning every text into a lesson about personal success, self-improvement, or individual destiny and instead reads each passage within God's redemptive story fulfilled in Christ.

BIG IDEA

A common interpretive mistake is not that we ignore the Bible.

It is that we make ourselves the center of it.

We read David and ask

“What giant do I need to defeat?”

We read Joseph and ask

“How do I get from the pit to the palace?”

We read Esther and ask

“What is my such-a-time-as-this moment?”

We read Abraham and ask

“What promise is God trying to birth in my life?”

Those questions can produce applications.

But they can also quietly make me the main character.

The better first question is

What is God revealing about Himself and His redemptive purpose in this text?

Then

Where does this text belong in the biblical story that culminates in Christ?

Only then should I ask

How should I respond?

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this lesson, students should be able to

• Explain the difference between anthropocentric and Christocentric interpretation.

• Identify ways personal application can become the controlling center of Bible reading.

• Explain why moral lessons alone are insufficient for many biblical texts.

• Describe how Christ is central to the biblical story without forcing Him artificially into every verse.

5. Apply the framework

Context → Story → Christ → Response

• Recognize how common Bible stories change when read redemptively rather than merely personally.

PRIMARY TEXT

Luke 24:25–27, KJV

“Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken

Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?

And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”

Jesus does not merely correct individual verses.

He corrects the disciples' understanding of the story.

They had interpreted Israel's Scriptures in a way that made room for

• Messiah
• kingdom
• glory
• deliverance

but not enough room for

• suffering
• rejection
• death
• resurrection

Jesus shows them that the story itself was moving toward Him.

WORD STUDY

TITLE

Expounded

Luke 24:27

Greek

diermēneuō

Meaning

• explaining thoroughly
• interpreting
• translating
• making meaning clear

It is related to the same word family behind the idea of hermeneutics.

Jesus is not simply quoting verses.

He is interpreting Scripture.

And His interpretive center is

“the things concerning himself.”

This does not mean every sentence is secretly a code for Jesus.

It means the Scriptures, taken as a whole, participate in the redemptive story that finds its fulfillment in Him.

SCAFFOLDED SCRIPTURES

JOHN 5:39

“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”

The Scriptures testify about Christ.

JOHN 5:46

“For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.”

Jesus locates Himself within the witness of Moses.

HEBREWS 10:1

“For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things…”

The law contains patterns and anticipations.

COLOSSIANS 2:16–17

Paul describes Old Testament observances as

“A shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”

The shadow matters.

Christ is the substance.

2 CORINTHIANS 1:20

“For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen…”

Christ is central to the fulfillment of God's promises.

1 CORINTHIANS 10:1–4

Paul interprets Israel's wilderness experience in relation to Christ.

Verse 4

“and that Rock was Christ.”

TEACHING MOVEMENT 1

TITLE

The Bible Is Not Primarily About You

The Bible certainly speaks to us.

It forms us.

It corrects us.

It comforts us.

It instructs us.

But the biblical story does not begin with us.

It begins

“In the beginning God…”

The central actor in Scripture is God.

The central problem is not merely that humans need advice.

The central problem includes

• sin
• death
• alienation
• rebellion
• broken creation

And the central solution is not

“Try harder.”

It is God's redemptive action culminating in Christ.

ANTHROPOCENTRIC INTERPRETATION

Anthropocentric means human-centered.

It places

• human beings
• human needs
• human success
• human experience

at the interpretive center.

It often asks first

What does this say about me?

What's my promise?

What's my breakthrough?

What's my giant?

What's my purpose?

How do I succeed?

How do I become better?

These questions are not always illegitimate.

The problem is order.

If they come first, Scripture becomes a mirror in which every passage reflects us.

CHRISTOCENTRIC INTERPRETATION

Christ is the organizing center of the redemptive story.

A Christocentric reader asks

• What does this text mean in its context?

• What does it reveal about God, humanity, covenant, sin, promise, kingdom, sacrifice, redemption, or hope?

• Where does it fit within the biblical storyline?

• How does that storyline move toward, find fulfillment in, or become clarified by Christ?

• How should I now respond because I belong to Christ?

Application still matters.

But application comes at the end of interpretation, not at the beginning.

CASE STUDY 1

TITLE

David and Goliath

POPULAR READING

David = you

Goliath = your problem

Five stones = your tools

Go defeat your giant.

There may be a legitimate secondary application about courage and faith.

But if that is all we see, the story collapses into motivational teaching.

THE LARGER STORY

David is

• Israel's anointed king
• standing as representative champion
• facing an enemy Israel cannot defeat
• securing victory for the people who stand behind him

The people share in the victory of their king.

David is not Jesus.

But David participates in a royal pattern that ultimately reaches fulfillment in David's greater Son.

The Christocentric movement is NOT

“Jesus is your five smooth stones.”

It is

God's anointed king defeats the enemy on behalf of a fearful people who could not secure victory for themselves.

That pattern finds its greatest fulfillment in Christ.

APPLICATION

Stand in the victory of God's greater King, and live courageously because the decisive victory does not depend upon you.

CASE STUDY 2

TITLE

Joseph

POPULAR READING

Joseph suffered.

Joseph stayed faithful.

Joseph eventually became powerful.

Therefore

“Your pit is preparing you for your palace.”

That is incomplete.

Genesis 50:20 says

“But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good…”

What is the good?

“To save much people alive.”

Joseph's story is not primarily a motivational trajectory from hardship to success.

It is a preservation story.

God uses Joseph to preserve the covenant family through whom the redemptive promise will continue.

The center is not

“If you're faithful, eventually God will make you important.”

The center is

God remains faithful to His redemptive purpose even through human evil, suffering, displacement, and circumstances that appear to threaten the promise.

CASE STUDY 3

TITLE

Esther

Esther 4:14 is often used

“Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Popular application

“God has put you in your job, platform, office, or opportunity for your special moment.”

That may be a legitimate secondary application.

But the story is larger.

The Jewish people face annihilation.

God providentially preserves His covenant people.

Personal calling sits inside redemptive history.

The biblical storyline is bigger than Esther finding her purpose.

TEACHING MOVEMENT 2

TITLE

Moralism Is Not the Gospel

A moralistic reading asks

“What character should I imitate?”

Sometimes Scripture intends imitation.

But problems arise when every text becomes

Be brave like David.

Be faithful like Joseph.

Be courageous like Esther.

Dream big like Abraham.

Lead like Moses.

Christianity can then become

Be better.

Try harder.

Be more heroic.

The gospel gives us more than examples.

It gives us a Savior.

THE DANGER OF HERO-CENTERED BIBLE READING

Biblical characters are not polished superheroes.

Abraham lies.

Jacob deceives.

Moses fails.

David sins disastrously.

Solomon compromises.

Elijah despairs.

Peter denies Christ.

The biblical writers are showing us the faithfulness of God through flawed people.

Move away from

Look how great they were.

Toward

Look how faithful God is.

And ultimately

Look how completely Christ succeeds where human beings continually fail.

TEACHING MOVEMENT 3

TITLE

Christ Is Not a Cameo

A sermon may teach about

• leadership
• purpose
• money
• relationships
• courage
• success

and then say

“And, of course, Jesus helps us do this.”

That is not necessarily Christocentric.

Christ is not a cameo appearance at the end of Christian teaching.

Ask

Does the person and work of Christ actually shape the meaning, logic, and response of the teaching?

A sermon can mention Jesus repeatedly and still be centered on self-improvement.

THE CHRISTOCENTRIC FRAMEWORK

CONTEXT

What does this passage actually mean?

STORY

Where does this text fit within the biblical storyline?

Ask about

• creation
• fall
• covenant
• promise
• kingdom
• sacrifice
• exile
• restoration
• redemption
• new creation

CHRIST

How does the redemptive trajectory relate to the person and work of Christ?

Possible connections

PROMISE

A promise ultimately fulfilled in Christ.

TYPE

A person, office, institution, or event that anticipates a fuller reality.

Examples

• priesthood
• sacrifice
• temple
• king

THEME

A biblical theme reaches fulfillment or clarity in Christ.

Examples

• kingdom
• exodus
• shepherd
• son
• covenant
• wisdom

PROPHECY

An explicit forward-looking promise.

CONTRAST

Christ succeeds where others fail.

FULFILLMENT

Something incomplete reaches completion in Him.

RESPONSE

Because this is true in Christ, how should I

• believe
• worship
• obey
• hope
• repent
• live

COURSE FRAMEWORK

Context → Story → Christ → Response

GUARDRAIL 1

Christocentric interpretation does not mean

“Every verse is directly about Jesus.”

Some texts

• directly predict Christ
• typologically anticipate Him
• develop themes that culminate in Him
• describe covenant realities fulfilled through Him
• expose human sin that creates the need for Him
• reveal God's character ultimately made known in Him
• contribute more indirectly to the biblical storyline

The goal is not clever Jesus connections.

The goal is canonical and redemptive interpretation.

GUARDRAIL 2

Do not erase the original meaning.

If we jump immediately to Christ without first understanding

• Israel
• David
• Exodus
• covenant
• temple
• prophecy
• wisdom
• exile
• historical context

we flatten Scripture.

Christ fulfills the story.

He does not make the story irrelevant.

Christocentric interpretation honors

the original horizon

AND

the canonical fulfillment.

CHRIST AT THE CENTER

Colossians 1:16–18

Paul declares that all things were created

“by him, and for him.”

And

“that in all things he might have the preeminence.”

WORD STUDY

Preeminence

Greek

prōteuō

Meaning

To hold first place.

To be supreme.

THEOLOGICAL PRINCIPLE

Christ does not merely belong somewhere in Christianity.

He has the preeminence.

A Christian interpretation that consistently leaves Christ peripheral deserves examination.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

• When you read Scripture, what question do you naturally ask first?

• Which Bible story have you primarily understood as a lesson about yourself?

• What is the difference between applying a text personally and making yourself the center of the text?

• Why can moral lessons be true but still insufficient?

• How does Christ change the way you understand biblical heroes?

• What is the danger of “finding Jesus everywhere” without doing contextual work?

PRACTICE EXERCISE

TITLE

Move Yourself Out of the Center

Choose one

David and Goliath — 1 Samuel 17

Joseph — Genesis 37–50

Esther — Esther 1–10

Abraham — Genesis 12–22

Exodus — Exodus 1–15

Answer

• CONTEXT

What is happening historically and literarily?

• HUMAN PROBLEM

What problem does the text reveal?

• DIVINE ACTION

What does God do?

• STORY

How does this passage move God's covenant/redemptive story forward?

• CHRIST

What legitimate trajectory, theme, promise, type, or contrast ultimately connects this text to Christ?

• RESPONSE

How should a believer respond because of what God has accomplished — not merely because of what the human character did?

SIMPLE COMPARISON

ANTHROPOCENTRIC READING

Text → Me → My problem → My success

CHRISTOCENTRIC READING

Text → Context → God's Story → Christ → My Response

LESSON TAKEAWAY

The Bible speaks to me without being primarily about me.

Biblical characters participate in a story larger than their individual lives.

Faithful interpretation moves from context through the biblical story to Christ, and only then to Christian response.

FINAL SCREEN

Do not ask first

“Where am I in this story?”

Ask

What is God doing in this story?

Where does it sit in His redemptive plan?

How does that plan find its fulfillment in Christ?

Then ask

Now that I see Christ more clearly, how should I respond?