scott stonehouse

One of the things that people tell me they remember most from my preaching and teaching are the Importance and Clarity targets.

It started as a way to remind myself of important principles to keep in mind when reading the Bible and struggling with difficult passages or ideas. Humility and wisdom among them.

A simple target with a few rings.

At the center are Essential things. For example, Jesus rose from the dead. This is an Essential teaching of the Bible and belief of Christians. If you don’t believe that Jesus rose from the dead, you might be a nice, wonderful, smart person — you might even be right — but you aren’t a Christian. That is what I mean by Essential.

Outside of that are Important things. For example, when Jesus is returning. People can disagree about when they believe Jesus is returning and still be Christians. When Jesus will return is an Important belief but it isn’t an Essential belief.

Along the outer ring are things that are Not Important. For example, where the Ark of the Covenant is. (Although, didn’t we learn the answer to this from Indiana Jones?) These might be interesting questions or beliefs, but they are Not Important to our overall understanding of the Bible or how we are to live our lives as Christians.

Hopefully, the target reminds me that not every question, issue, or passage is as important as others. Some things are essential and I need to hold tightly to those. Others are not important at all and I need to be open-handed with those. And there is a range in between.

The same principles apply to another target.

Just as Biblical passages or issues range in importance, they also range in clarity.

Some things in the Bible are crystal clear. Some things are as clear as mud. And there is a range in between.

These two targets also overlap. The things in the Bible that are the most important are usually the most clear. Often, the things that are not clear are also not important.

I hope this is as helpful to you as it has been to me, to remind me to be humble and wise when struggling through passages and issues in the Bible.