The Application Trap: Why Obsessing Over Application Kills Growth

The Application Trap: Why Obsessing Over “Doing” is Killing Your Growth.

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Table Of Contents

The Application Trap: Why Obsessing Over "Doing" is Killing Your Growth.
- Snapshot
Introduction
Transformation
Sit With God
See God’s Character and Heart
Objections
Focusing Too Much on Application Makes the Bible Individualistic
Conclusion
What Now?

Snapshot

Stop reading the Bible as a mirror to fix yourself and start reading it as a window to see God. When we obsess over immediate application, we settle for temporary behavior modification. True transformation comes not from doing more, but from being with God.

Introduction

Throughout my life, whenever I read the Bible, people always focused on the application. Every text had to be applicable. Every devotional had to lead to application. I was taught, if I was not making the text relevant to my daily situations, then why even read it to begin with? This caused me to focus on applying God’s word to my life. While it is good to apply God’s word to my life, I have come to believe that it is overlooking a major aspect of the Christian life, to be with Jesus and become like Jesus. By focusing on application, it seems as if we are obsessed with making Christianity all about behavior modification. Approaching the text for transformation is important, but transformation is a byproduct of having an encounter with the living God.

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Transformation

Throughout Scripture we see that when a person encounters God, they then start to change. Application is the byproduct of an encounter with God. We see this clearly in 2 Corinthians 3:18: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image….” Notice that it starts with having an encounter with God that we then are transformed into his image. If we focus on application and a list of rules, we become legalists but if we behold Christ, we become like Christ. “Application” often focuses on an act of my will where I need to grit my teeth to do better but transformation is an act of the Spirit as God’s transforming power is working through us. When we shift our focus from forced application to Spirit-led transformation, obedience becomes a delight rather than a duty.

Sit With God

Before a person tries to do what Jesus did, they first must learn about what Jesus does and who he is. A lot of Scripture is not prescriptive but is actually descriptive. Meaning, a lot of Scripture is telling us what did happen and not telling us what we should do. An example of this is Samson tying torches to foxes’ tails but we are not being instructed to do the same thing. This fact alone should make us hesitant to jump straight to application. When we read scripture, if we are too focused on the end result, application, we miss the very fact that we are sitting with God and learning how God has interacted with humanity and who he has revealed himself to be. Do not gloss over the fact that when you are sitting with Scripture and studying it, you are learning about God and how he has interacted with his creation.

Think about the different Epistles that Paul writes. He usually spends the first half, or first few chapters stating who God is and who we are in him. This is usually known as the indicative. After Paul tells us who God is and who we are in him, he will often give imperatives, how to live. When you place too much of a focus on application, you often miss who God is. We must follow the Biblical order and be with God first.

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See God’s Character and Heart

In Scripture, we learn about both ourselves and God. We learn about humanity and how humanity interacts with God, one another, and creation. Not only do we see ourselves, we also see God’s character and heart through how he interacts with his creation. We see a loving God that cares about people and wants a relationship with his people. That is important as I believe God wants the same thing with the person reading the Bible. God wants to be with you and dwell with you and spend time with you. This must precede application. Many people run into difficulties applying the text, especially in difficult books like Leviticus, or come to poor application conclusions as they stretch the text to make it relevant to their life. Some people claim that means we just need to train people better but I actually think the opposite is true. When people are taught that the Bible is merely an application manual for their own individual life, they miss being with God and seeing him throughout the text.

Objections

Some will claim that James 1:22, do not only be hearers of the word but be doers of the word, is a rebuttal to what I am writing. I am not arguing that we are not doers of the word but that we focus on sitting with God and becoming like Jesus. If we lose focus of being with God, then devotional life just becomes behavior modification. I am convinced that the constant focus on application in reading the Bible has distorted the purpose of Scripture and ultimately makes Christians focus on the Bible being behavior modification. James warns us against being hearers who forget what they look like in the mirror. But the solution isn’t to stare at the mirror and scream at ourselves to change; the solution is to look into the ‘perfect law that gives freedom’ (James 1:25) and abide there. True ‘doing’ flows out of a heart that has been captivated by who God is.

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Focusing Too Much on Application Makes the Bible Individualistic

The problem also becomes that when you are just looking for application for your life, you start to view scripture as merely a moral manual that you should apply to your life. You become the main character of the Bible. Suddenly, every story is about your job, your marriage, or your struggles. But the Bible is not the story of you; it is the story of Jesus. When we treat the Bible as a mirror to fix ourselves rather than a window to see God, we shrink the grand narrative of redemption down to the size of our individual problems. We miss the corporate reality that we are part of a people, a Kingdom, and a history much larger than our Tuesday morning to-do list.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the Bible is not a book about you. It is a book about God and how he has worked throughout history. The Bible is not a list of chores to complete, but a revelation of God. When we rush to application, we settle for behavior modification which is a shallow change that lasts only as long as a person’s willpower continues. But when we slow down and sit with God, the transforming power of God begins to work as we study his character and rest in who we are with him.

Next time you open the Bible, resist the urge to immediately jump to application and what you need to do. Instead look for who God is, what he is doing, and who he is revealing himself to be. Trust in his strength and his power as you have the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.