Redefining "Bible study"

These past couple of weeks, I have found myself completely redefining that which I call "Bible study". 

Bible study used to mean a period of time where a group of high school or middle school students would get together at someone's house, talk and be jovial, eat something (cause hey...that's what Baptists do), read a passage in scripture and talk about it, then talk (and eat) some more. The facilitator might pass out study sheets with questions relating to the passage, with space to write answers in. Everything was so organized. The format was like a cookie cutter to be used over and over week after week. Most of the time the topics were common, and the answers to the "study" were mostly predictable. I always went into the night thinking "Well, I wonder with what spin or different angle we'll look at subject x this time."

I'm not at all trying to crash or criticize those experiences. I did enjoy the fellowship, the discussions, and especially the food. And there were plenty of meetings where I did come away with something. But as of late, the experiences I've had with a friend of mine where we scour the Bible inside out for answers to real, honest questions that we actually don't know how to answer has both stretched my faith and redefined the term "Bible study" for me.

The types of questions we have and the answers we seek are ones that lie at the very heart of our doctrines--for me, Protestant, and for my friend, Catholic. Tiny, minute differences in the wordings in the statements of our faiths affect we believe about the same God and how we respond to Him. We go into our times of study with our own assumptions, but literally no idea where all this searching will take us. Is baptism just a picture, a mere representation, or does it play a larger role in extending grace? Surely we are saved by grace, but faith without works is dead right?

It's not very comfortable to look for answers knowing very well that what you've believed your whole life may be wrong or not altogether right. Looking back, I realize that the boredom from the Bible studies I used to go to came from the fact that they were safe and comfortable. A room full of people who believe 99% the same things you do is easier to be around than a friend who disagrees with a considerable amount of what you believe. 

But through this experience, I've grown more. I've learned to be humble, to accept that you may be wrong. I've learned to accept that some people worship the same God I do, just a little differently. I've learned to not fear the word "tolerance", and that to truly love another person means to overlook legalistic details. I'm learning what beliefs can be let go, and what must be clung to. And most of all, I'm learning to become more and more comfortable in stepping out of my belief comfort zone. The reward is phenomenal--getting to know God for who and what He truly is, straight from the source, and not from a study sheet.