Session 1, Josh Harris

May. 24 2008

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Josh Harris kicked off the conference with a message entitled, “Ripping, Burning, Eating: A Right Response to God’s Word.”

Before diving into his message Josh did two things. First, he issued a challenge for conference attendees to, here at the outset of the conference, leave behind self-preoccupation/self-consciousness, stating, “Let’s not be preoccupied with what other people are thinking about us, let’s be preoccupied with what God is thinking about us.” Second, he reminded us of why Na exists: to promote “humble orthodoxy,” to champion a humble commitment to biblical truth.

Josh began his message with a series of searching questions:

What’s your attitude to God’s Word?

Do you delight in it, love it, obey it?

How do you think about the Bible? There are a million different ideas out there today about how to relate to the Bible. How do you relate to the Bible?

The heart of Josh’s message examined the stories of three very different men and their response to God’s Word.

1. Ripping: King Josiah. 2 Kings 22

Josh held up Josiah as a compelling example of a man who allowed God’s Word to reform him. Josiah was so moved, so humbled, by his encounter with God’s Word that he ripped his robe.

Under this first heading, I especially appreciated these statements from Josh:

“Isn’t it encouraging that the grace of God is more powerful than the gene pool?” (referring to how godly Josiah didn’t come from a godly family)

“Your heart for God is revealed in the way that you respond to his Bible.”

“Until you begin to listen to God’s words, to what he’s already spoken, until you listen with humility, God’s not going to hear your words.”

“All reformation that has ever taken place in the church has been in response to the authority of God’s Word.”

2. Burning: King Jehoiakim. Jeremiah 36

Josh held up Jehoiakim as an example of how someone can see a compelling example of godliness (his own father!—Josiah was Jehoiakim’s father) and turn away from it. Jehoiakim was a man who had no fear of God, who didn’t submit himself to God’s Word, but instead burned God’s words.

Under this second heading, I especially appreciated these statements from Josh:

“When you ignore God’s Word you set yourself on a course for destruction.”

“Let’s leave behind this mindset that treats God’s Word as if it’s some sort of performance...that you only engage if you’re entertained.”

3. Eating: Jeremiah. Jeremiah 15:16

Here Josh expounded Jeremiah 15:16, the theme verse for the conference: “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts.”

Josh drew out three lessons from Jeremiah 15:16 and the surrounding context:

1) God’s Word meets us right where we are.
“God’s Word speaks perfectly to you even when you aren’t doing perfectly.”

2) Delight in God’s Word is often something we have to fight for.
“For Jeremiah, delight in God’s words was something that ‘became’ a joy...delight in God’s Word took time and effort”

3) We love God’s Word not to establish our standing with God, but we love God’s Word because this God has established our standing before him through the death of his Son.
“When you understand the good news it transforms how you read the Bible.”
“The way that the Word of God becomes a delight is when you realize that the Bible is the story of all that God has done for you through Jesus Christ.”

Josh closed his message with a prayer and a call for application, asking us the question: “What’s one way you need to change your response to God’s Word?”

My favorite statement from Josh’s message, a statement that I encourage all of you to digest: “The way that the Word of God becomes a delight is when you realize that the Bible is the story of all that God has done for you through Jesus Christ.”

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