Scripture Beyond Simulation

A recent conversation on campus got me thinking about the difference between being trained and being ready.

Kerrie Kimbrow, chair of Southwestern Adventist University’s nursing department, was telling me about the new virtual reality headsets they have received to help train future nurses.These headsets place students in simulated medical environments, helping them apply classroom theory in practice. 

Virtual reality is increasingly being used in healthcare training and has proven effective in helping professionals bridge the gap between knowledge and practice. The programs are designed to place the students in various high-stress situations to see how effective they are in implementing correct procedures and treatments. Unlike real life, mistakes in the virtual program carry no real risk, allowing students to learn without putting lives in danger.

​But if health professionals treated real patients after training only in virtual reality, it would not inspire much confidence. We all instinctively understand that there’s a difference between knowledge and practice. Some skills cannot be learned any other way but to actually put them into practice, not in the virtual world, but in reality. That’s why I’m glad our nursing department pairs virtual reality training with an extensive clinical program, where students gain experience in real hospitals with real patients.

That same principle applies to our spiritual lives.

​Scripture was given to be a light to our paths. Throughout Scripture it’s the wise who put biblical knowledge into practice. 

Many Christians are convinced, at least intellectually, that what Scripture


reveals is good. Yet when it comes to putting those truths into practice, we often fall short. Some Christians live under the illusion—virtual reality, if you will—that as long as they know the right things and intellectually agree with them, they are automatically in a right relationship with God. But Scripture consistently points beyond knowledge alone to a lived, active faith. Only those who have a daily, experiential walk with Christ, attempting to put Scripture into practice, are recognized as faithful. 

We will not always succeed in doing what is right, and even our best efforts may fall short. What matters is continuing the journey. 

We should not let moments of failure or discouragement overwhelm us and keep us from reaching the promised blessings, especially when the Bible portrays God as our best friend who is full of compassion, patience, mercy and love. (See Lamentations 3:22.) With God as our loving father and a “can-do” attitude in us, anything is possible. (See Luke 1:37.)

Since all of Scripture is given by God, we should also not fall into the trap of deciding which parts we to accept and which parts to ignore, as though we ourselves could have reached a perfect state and can accurately distinguish between right and wrong, truth and error. Rather, at times, we must grapple with difficult passages and stories and seek to fit them within a model that considers the whole of Scripture. This is why continual study is invaluable. 

The more we understand, the closer we align ourselves with the biblical worldview. And the more we understand, the better we implement what we learn, the more joy, peace and happiness will fill our lives. 

After all, isn’t this the purpose of Scripture—not merely to impart knowledge we could not discover on our own, but to help us become more than we otherwise could be? Scripture was given to change your life!

By Endi Stojanovic, Assistant Professor, Department of Religion, Southwestern Adventist University