Hi friends,
Let me ask you something uncomfortable.
When you read the Bible… are you investigating?
Or are you reacting?
Most Christians think the greatest danger is “false teaching.”
Sometimes the real danger is an anxious nervous system.
Because when anxiety drives interpretation, you don’t seek truth.
You hunt threats.
Herod Knew the Bible
When the Magi arrived asking, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?” Herod didn’t ignore them.
He gathered the chief priests and scribes. He consulted Scripture.
They gave him the correct answer: Bethlehem. Micah 5.
Herod was not biblically illiterate. He had the right verse. He understood the implications
And then he ordered the slaughter of infants.
Scripture did not restrain his anxiety.
It amplified it.
Because Scripture plus anxiety does not produce obedience—it enables you to justify your own desires.
The Engine Beneath It: Scarcity
Herod ruled from a mindset of scarcity.
Power is limited.
Favor is limited.
Security is limited.
If someone else rises, I fall.
He didn’t need to believe he was the Messiah.
He only needed to believe that no one else could be.
Fear + perceived loss of control often manifests as violence:
Sometimes physical.
Sometimes verbal.
Sometimes spiritual.
And it is almost always framed as protection.
“I’m defending truth.”
“I’m guarding holiness.”
“I’m protecting the flock.”
But underneath it is something deeper:
If I am wrong, I am not safe.
Luke Writes Differently
Now contrast that with Luke.
Luke opens his Gospel by saying he has carefully investigated everything. He has spoken with witnesses. He has ordered the account so his reader may have confidence.
Not panic.
Confidence.
In Luke 1–2, Mary and Joseph quietly observe the Law. They bring the required offerings. They follow the rituals. They return home.
There is no frantic proving.
Just steady obedience rooted in trust.
Law-keeping does not produce calm.
Trust produces calm, which allows obedience without anxiety.
Luke models something revolutionary:
You can investigate without fear.
You can slow down without compromising.
You can seek truth without eliminating rivals.
That only works in a world where God’s love is not scarce.
When Access to God Feels Scarce
Many Christians live as if access to God is scarce.
As if only a few will make it.
As if one wrong doctrine could disqualify them.
As if being wrong means being unloved.
And when salvation feels scarce, certainty becomes a weapon.
If I’m wrong about this doctrine, am I still chosen?
If I misinterpret this verse, am I still safe?
If someone challenges me publicly, do I lose my standing?
That fear shows up everywhere.
The Bible study leader who cannot tolerate correction.
The church that subdivides again and again to stay “pure.”
The online Christian who treats every observation as an attack.
Because when anxiety is high, you cannot tolerate observation without interpretation.
Uncertainty feels dangerous.
And when uncertainty feels dangerous, threats must die first.
Information vs. Orientation
Information answers questions.
Orientation tells you which questions are worth asking.
An anxious person can consume endless information and become more unstable.
But a person who trusts that God is not scarce can tolerate not knowing everything yet.
Luke restores distance between observation and action.
Anxiety collapses that distance.
When you feel threatened, you don’t investigate.
You react.
A Five-Minute Practice: The Luke Method
Before you interpret a passage, write down three lines:
- What do I actually observe in the text?
- What am I assuming?
- What would I need to verify before speaking confidently?
This costs something.
It costs you the dopamine hit of engaging in debate.
It costs you the identity boost of being “the one who knows.”
But it gives you something better.
Space.
And space is where trust grows.
If you were wrong about something important… would God still love you?
If your theology needed refinement… would you still belong?
Herod lived in a world where being wrong meant death.
Luke invites us into a world where being wrong is survivable.
Because God is not scarce.
And if God is not scarce, truth does not need to be defended violently.
It can be sought patiently.
That is the difference between hunting threats…
and investigating truth.
Have a blessed week,
—Ryan
