H.P.
Barker (1896-1952) was once a missionary that served in the West Indies. He was
also a powerful preacher, known for his creative stories and applications. He
once wrote a graphic illustration that pointed out the need for both knowing and
applying the Bible's truth.
“As
I looked out into the garden one day, I saw three things. First, I saw a
butterfly. The butterfly was beautiful, and it would alight on a flower and
then it would flutter to another flower and then to another, and only for a
second or two it would sit and it would move on. It would touch as many lovely
blossoms as it could, but derived absolutely no benefit from it.
Then
I watched a little longer out my window and there came a botanist. And the
botanist had a big notebook under his arm and a great big magnifying glass. The
botanist would lean over a certain flower and he would look for a long time and
then he would write notes in his notebook. He was there for hours writing
notes, closed them, stuck them under his arm, tucked his magnifying glass in
his pocket and walked away.
The
third thing I noticed was a bee, just a little bee. But the bee would light on
a flower and it would sink down deep into the flower and it would extract all
the nectar and pollen that it could carry. It went in empty every time and came
out full.”[1]
Here
was Barker’s application. Some Christians, like that butterfly, flit from Bible
study to Bible study, from sermon to sermon, and from commentary to commentary,
while gaining little more than a nice feeling and some good ideas. Others, like
the botanist, study Scripture carefully and take copious notes. They gain much
information but little truth. Others, like the bee, go to the Bible to be
taught by God and to grow in knowledge of Him. Also like the bee, they never go
away empty.”[2]
How
many of us must confess we more often resemble the butterfly or the botanist
rather than the bee? When we are like that we may never truly apply God’s word
and therefore are never truly transformed by it (Rom. 12:2). I fear there are a
lot of sermon connoisseurs running around today. You've probably heard them on
occasion. They like to compare preachers: "Well, I like this preacher.
He's good in this area, but he's weak in this other area. Now this other guy. .
. ." But this isn't the Battle of the Bands; this is the Word of God.
Preaching has become a spectator sport rather than Phillip Brooks, immortal
definition of an “encounter with God’s truth poured through personality.”
James
described the Christian butterflies and botanists like this, “For if anyone is
a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his
natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once
forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law
of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he
will be blessed in his doing” (1:23-25).
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