{"id":31766,"date":"2012-02-13T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-02-14T03:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=31766"},"modified":"2021-02-07T21:01:38","modified_gmt":"2021-02-08T03:01:38","slug":"why-does-it-feel-as-if-im-going-through-an-intellectual-exercise-when-i-talk-about-the-bible-to-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-does-it-feel-as-if-im-going-through-an-intellectual-exercise-when-i-talk-about-the-bible-to-others\/","title":{"rendered":"Why does it feel as if I&#8217;m going through an intellectual exercise when I talk about the Bible to others?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>As I study the Bible more and talk with people more about it, it seems like sometimes it becomes an intellectual exercise instead of my way of life. It definitely is my way of life; I feel like I&#8217;m living properly as far as I can tell, I do the things I do because I recognize the love God has shown me, and I want to show it back not just for the sake of following commandments. But sometimes it feels like I&#8217;m answering math problems in my Bible study and my conversations with others about Christ. Is that a problem? Should it feel differently?<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>What it sounds like is that you are losing your concern for other people. That can happen. You speak to people about God and Christianity, you want them to be saved, but you get rejected so many times that you start putting some distance between you and the people you teach so you don&#8217;t get hurt as much. Yet that is the very thing you don&#8217;t want. It is a concern for other people that drives preachers. &#8220;<em>For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men<\/em>&#8221; (II Corinthians 5:10-11). It does mean you get wounded. You can see it in Paul&#8217;s writings:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;<em>Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works<\/em>&#8221; (II Timothy 4:14).<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;<em>If anyone&#8217;s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire<\/em>&#8221; (I Corinthians 3:15).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So allow yourself to get involved with people more.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: As I study the Bible more and talk with people more about it, it seems like sometimes it becomes an intellectual exercise instead of my way of life. It definitely is my way of life; I feel like I&#8217;m living properly as far as I can tell, I do the things I do because&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[451],"class_list":["post-31766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-teaching"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33306,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-for-a-woman-to-talk-about-the-bible-on-facebook\/","url_meta":{"origin":31766,"position":0},"title":"Is it wrong for a woman to talk about the Bible on Facebook?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I was wondering, do you think it would be okay for me, a female, to talk about God on Facebook since there are men reading what I am saying and sometimes even asking me questions? I never answer a question without a Bible verse though, and if it's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":45406,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/am-i-ashamed-of-christ-because-it-is-hard-for-me-to-invite-strangers-to-bible-study\/","url_meta":{"origin":31766,"position":1},"title":"Am I ashamed of Christ because it is hard for me to invite strangers to Bible study?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was hoping to get some clarification on \"shame\" as far as one's faith in Jesus goes. I was baptized last year and have been trying to obey Jesus' teachings, but have fallen short on pretty much everything! In the beginning, I dealt with a lot of worldly sorrow,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17517,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-you-keep-doing-right-when-others-react-badly\/","url_meta":{"origin":31766,"position":2},"title":"How do you keep doing right when others react badly?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 22, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I feel like I need some words of encouragement and counsel on a personal issue. Thank you in advance for taking the time to give me a scriptural response that I can apply to my personal life. May God bless you in your efforts. What I'm trying to do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34192,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-stop-putting-so-much-emphasis-on-physical-beauty\/","url_meta":{"origin":31766,"position":3},"title":"How do I stop putting so much emphasis on physical beauty?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How can a person stop putting too much emphasis on physical beauty, especially when it's given so much priority in society? I want to stop getting so disheartened when I look into the mirror and start focusing on how God sees me. I want to stop judging myself and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91609,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-for-a-woman-to-teach-on-a-social-media-platform\/","url_meta":{"origin":31766,"position":4},"title":"Is it wrong for a woman to teach on a social media platform?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, Thank you for taking the time to view my question. My question is in regards to the topic of women teaching. I completely understand it is not a woman's right to lead any assembly in terms of worship or to try and exercise authority over men in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2440,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-want-to-be-baptized-but-how-can-i-find-a-true-believer-to-do-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":31766,"position":5},"title":"I want to be baptized, but how can I find a true believer to do it?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 9, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I recently came across the fact that baptism is a necessary step for the forgiveness of sins. If this interpretation is true, it means that I've never met a Christian in my whole life. 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