Impact of LFBI: Anna Ryan

A Bible story I think about sometimes is that of Joseph of Arimathaea, the man who buried Jesus. Only a few verses are dedicated to him in Scripture, but what stands out to me are the verbs used to describe his attitude towards Jesus’ body: Craved (Mark 15:43). Begged (Mat 27:58; Luke 23:52). Besought (John 19:38).

I think about how it says Joseph “took him down” off the cross and wrapped Him in linen (Mark 15:46) — what a bloody, messy, grievous work that must have been. And yet, somehow, what a privilege was granted to him that he should be the first to be covered in the blood of the slain Jesus.

I hope it is not too much of a stretch to say that we get that same privilege, firstly as believers in Jesus Christ, and secondarily as students of Him. Though Joseph handled the incarnate Word, we get to handle the written Word (1 John 1:1), just as precious, just as perfect.

“Academic achievement and ambition were my gods of choice”

Of course, that is not always the perspective I had when it came to the study of God’s Word. I remember one of my first Sundays in C&YA — back when it was in the elementary school cafeteria and Pastor Brandon had long hair — and Brandon asked the group, “Who wrote the book of Romans?” I had no idea this was common knowledge and was therefore a little uncomfortable when most of the room quickly responded “Paul.” It sounds silly now, but I didn’t realize people cared that much to know such details about the Bible.

Most of my Christian life had revolved around me doing whatever I wanted and then clinically weighing out my religious activity to even the scales. Academic achievement and ambition were my gods of choice, and at those vain altars I daily offered up my time, my sleep, and whatever energy I could muster. When I came to MBT in high school, church just became another extracurricular to add to the list. Though I’m sure it was incredibly apparent to anyone close to me at the time, God finally revealed to me my rebellion and pride, and I recommitted my life to Christ shortly before graduating high school in 2019. Part of that surrender involved me choosing to stay in Kansas City for college. It ended up being one of the best decisions of my life, in part because I got to finish discipleship and get established in ministry, and in part because it gave me space to start taking LFBI classes.

“What God has extended to us is not academic exercise, but friendship”

Coming out of an intensely academic season of my life in high school, I was pretty reluctant to plunge back into another scholastic arena like LFBI. I was scared of my propensity to make idols out of knowledge, and, selfishly, I was scared of committing to something that would only end up draining me. But God gave so much grace.

At Fall Retreat that same year, God brought me to a verse that has been formative to how I view my relationship with Him and with the study of His Word:

Psalm 27:4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.

What God has extended to us is not academic exercise, but friendship. That is exactly what LFBI has facilitated in my life.

Don’t get me wrong, there are definitely some parts of LFBI that are traditionally academic (though I still think it is a beautiful thing that God lets us know Him in such ordered, precise terms). But for the most part, all I can boil it down to is this: it is a gift. It is a good and perfect gift (Jam 1:17) from a Father who is here not to lade us with heavy burdens (Mat 11:28-30), but to invite us into fellowship (Psa 27:8). 

“I forget how precious it is that I handle a bloodied book that scores of Christians have died to pass down to me”

Of course, if you really want the full disclosure, here it is. In my time in LFBI, I’ve encountered two main struggles: 

  1. Viewing it dismissively. I forget how precious it is that I handle a bloodied book that scores of Christians have died to pass down to me, and that is when I develop an attitude of passive duty and sullen obligation. The solution to this struggle is prayer: specifically, praying that God’s Word would break my hardened heart (Jer 23:29) and quicken my senses to His tender love (Psa 119:156).

  2. Viewing it selfishly. I think that I am only doing LFBI so that I can know more about the Bible and so that I can have a strengthened relationship with God. While those things are true, that is not the only reason God gave us His Word and people to teach it. From the beginning, His Word has always been intended to be shared; it is a privilege to sacrifice in study so that I can eventually turn around and invest this truth into others’ lives. The solution to this struggle is service — letting go of my agenda and preferences so that I might see others (Phil 2:4) and lay my life down for them (2 Cor 4:12). 

“In a world riddled with fear, confusion, and beautifully packaged options of bondage, these classes helped me see my role as an ambassador of Christ”

I graduated from LFBI last year in December 2023, and looking back, there were a couple classes that stand out in my mind as being my favorites. The first one, perhaps unlikely, is the Life of Moses and Elisha class. It’s just an 8-week course, but I think I enjoyed it so much because it simply follows the lives of faith those men led, and in some ways it is just like a Sunday school class in how it walks through Bible stories. It steadies my heart to consider Moses, his loneliness in leadership, and how that gave space for Him to spend so much intimate time with God, or to consider Elisha, whose faith was so strong that even in death it gave life (2 Ki 13:21).

My other favorite class — or rather, group of classes — has been the Biblical Counseling series, which includes the Introduction to Biblical Counseling class and the three succeeding labs. I loved these classes because they put immediate action to the knowledge I was learning. In a world riddled with fear, confusion, and beautifully packaged options of bondage, these classes helped me see my role as an ambassador of Christ to offer freedom and hope to a desperate world (and even to myself, at times).

“I hope we each continually see LFBI — and really, just God’s Word in general — for the gift that it is”

Now my encouragement to anyone reading this would be to consider.

Haggai 1:7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. 8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.

God is offering each of us a work to engage in, and I beg you to see that that work is a gift. Our business is not in cieled houses (Hag 1:4), but in deserts, and mountains, and dens, and caves (Heb 11:38), and anywhere that there is a soul to preach to. God is calling each of us to “Go up to the mountain:” to put in the work to know Him, both for the sake of just knowing Him, and for the sake of leading others to know Him as well. 

I don’t know what reservations you may have or how insurmountable they may feel. But may we remember that God’s commands and invitations are not grievous (1 John 5:3), and may we respond in faith like Caleb in the wilderness: “Now therefore give me this mountain” (Jos 14:12). In other words, “Give me this great work and all the giants and fenced cities that come with it. God has promised, and that is all I need to engage.”

I hope we each continually see LFBI — and really, just God’s Word in general — for the gift that it is. I know that sometimes it can be like Joseph of Arimathaea taking Jesus’ body down: maybe cumbersome, maybe tiring, maybe messy. But I think it is a great gift that we are afforded to be “bloodied” with the work of the One who was bloodied for us. 

Maybe it doesn’t seem like a gift to you right now, and that’s ok. Just consider, just crave, just beg, just beseech the body of Jesus, and I guarantee that you’ll see Him face to face in the process.


Anna Ryan is a member of Midtown Baptist Temple and a part of C&YA. She serves in Temple Worship and leads a women’s Bible study.

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Serving in Sincerity: Lorena Reyes