In January of this year, I challenged our congregation to integrate the reading of scripture into their daily lives. One way I did this was by providing various reading plans such as: reading through the NT in a year, the OT in a year, reading the Bible in 90 days, and a few others. I know of only six people who will have completed the reading plan: my wife, myself, and four teen girls from the youth ministry (Go Kayla, Shelby, Abby, and Katie)!
Here is what I am wrestling/struggling with, and as always, I would love any conversation and input from anyone who stumbles upon this post! So please, let me know your thoughts. It is extremely difficult to read scripture and not to impose our 21st century mindset into the text. I have my M.Divinity and I would not dare say that I completely understand the perspective/culture/mindset that Paul was writing with. I am sure if Paul and I got together for lunch and conversation to talk about his writings, there would be several (and let me reiterate, several) points throughout his letters that I have skewed and stretched due to: 1.My limited knowledge of the time, culture, current events, etc, that Paul was writing from. 2. How I impose my own interests, opinions, and 21st century life into his letters. For example, I assume that Paul was also caught up with the various arguments regarding soteriology that we Christians love to fight over. I'm not saying that it is impossible to read Paul's writings from an accurate perspective, only that it takes a lot of work and education to do so.
So... is there true benefit to encouraging anyone and everyone to read scripture in privacy apart from the community? What is 7th grade Susie supposed to think when she reads Joshua and hears about God telling the Israelites to kill all of the women and children? Or, what about when Paul tells the Corinthians that women are to be silent in church? Or, when the Psalmist talks about how he 'hates' his enemy? Wouldn't that be confusing to someone who was taught that Godly men and women are supposed to love their enemies? With little or no understanding of the context of these texts, scripture can be interpreted without any accountability, education, or background of what is being said and therefore, it leaves people to their own imaginations as to what is the correct meaning of the text. (wow, that sounded awfully communistic) Should God's Word only be read in the presence of the community of believers and in light of traditional interpretations and understandings of the text? Is it irresponsible of the Church to encourage any and all people to read scripture in the privacy of their own home? Odd question, I know. Talk! :-)
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I don't think that ignorance to text is ever a better option than knowledge of one. Reading some of these texts may seem out of place or foreign or contradictory to us, but that places the need for further questioning and seeking. It is important to listen to preachers, mentors, etc. about how they interpret some things, but it is also important to look at the text for ourselves to gain our own perspective instead of maybe blindly following someone else's. That can lead down a dangerous path because there are some people who claim to know, love and understand God, who simply don't and/or have ulterior motives. I think it is important to read the text for yourself and then seek counsel wiser than yourself, to combine your own thoughts with theirs. We must be discerning and not leap to conclusions about some of the things we/read hear. It is the responsibility of the seeker to find and make the best attempt at gaining knowledge, wisdom, and discernment.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your insight Kevin. There have been several leaders who have used their position of authority as a teacher to lead people astray. Perhaps our own private reading can help prevent this from happening.
ReplyDeletelemme say this Jay, in the realm of 1500 years when the congregation rested upon what the Church taught as truth there was 1 church (catholic/ orthodox). A few people had Bibles, but most were illiterate to the point of trusting their priests, deacons, etc...
ReplyDeleteAfter Luther and men of his ilk decided that the Bible should be open to any and all personal interpretations we have 30,000+ denominations in under 500 years of time.
I do believe Paul said the church is the pillar and foundation of the truth. Let her do what Christ intended her to do.
Phil, all cults (that I know of) originated from a complete neglect of church history and no accountability in regards to the reading of scripture.
ReplyDeleteMormons and JW's love their Bible, yet, they don't recognize the church/bishops that canonized their very Bible. An interesting concept!
December 8, 2010 1:30 PM
Three thoughts:
ReplyDeleteWhat I've found in my own ministry setting is that individual study of scripture is important because of the way it enhances our conversations about scripture as a community. So much of scripture alludes to other parts of scripture that it makes for much more meaningful conversations if people can recognize those connections and where they fit in the overall arc of the biblical narrative. In other words, the more familiar people are with the basic content of the Bible, even if we think their interpretation is skewed, the more foundation is already in place to be able to take the conversation to a deeper theological level rather than having to rehearse the basic content of the story repeatedly. So individual reading serves the communal reading.
Second, it seems likely to me that the more individuals are making an effort to read all parts of the Bible the more likely it is that their interpretation of scripture will be corrected by their reading of scripture. That is to say, we are less likely to create our whole theology out of one or two verses if we are constantly being confronted by other parts of scripture which push us to more nuanced interpretations.
Third, I believe that the study of scripture is one of the primary ways that the Spirit shapes us to be God's holy people. So if we are only hearing scripture when we are gathered as the body (which we have to admit in our culture just isn't going to be as often as we have opportunity to study individually)then we are missing out on an enormous amount of potential spiritual formation.
I certainly don't think that Bible reading should be only individual or even primarily about the individual. The ultimate authority of interpretation should still rest with the community and we should allow our individual reading to be corrected by the community. But to say that this means we should give up individual reading entirely I think would be misguided.
Thanks for the thought provoking post Jay.
Dave, thank you brother for your insight. I would also agree that the private reading of scripture can help to contribute to the communal reading and discussion of scripture. There have been several times where I have been blessed by listening to someone else's understanding and reading of a text.
ReplyDeleteI would also affirm that the reading of God's word is a primary way that the Spirit speaks truth into our hearts. As leaders/pastors, we need to teach and instruct people in the correct and responsible ways to read it.
Thank you Dave.
I think God's word should be read by everyone, and talked about A LOT. I'm in a situation right now where I'm discipling a brand-new Christian, and she is in that beautiful, hungry-for-Scripture stage where she is reading a TON of Scripture and doesn't always understand it. Periodically, she will come to me with questions and I do my best to answer them/find the answers I don't know (and there are a bunch!). Sometimes her questions drive me to seek God-conversations with people more well-read than me or with more wisdom, so more good is brought about there as well. I've found that we both learn so much in this way - especially since her constant questioning and reading keeps me on my toes and makes me stay in Scripture, too - to keep up with her!
ReplyDeleteI encourage her not to jump to conclusions about a particular verse that sounds weird - we have to let Scripture interpret Scripture, and remember that it all fits together and often has multiple layers of meaning and application (one of my favorite things about it!). I think, as with everything in the Christian life, you just have to do your best, trust God when you screw up, lean on the people around you, and let them lean on you as you do life together and chase after the truth. None of us has it all together, and there is enough in Scripture to keep us busy for a thousand lifetimes of study and application. :)
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ReplyDeleteI think the best thing we can do for new Christians is to hand them a concordance with a Greek and Hebrew Lexicon....KIDDING!
ReplyDeleteSeriously though-It is the job of the Holy Spirit to do the interpreting. We should assume if someone is a Christian that the HS can guide them and perhaps sometimes the HS will guide them to come to us for counsel. If someone is not seeking the counsel of the Spirit when reading the Bible, well nothing we say is really going to stick with them either b/c they don't want God's guidance, they want to interpret the Bible the way they see fit-which is usually not within the context that God wrote it. 1 Cor 2:11 says that man's spirit knows of mans thoughts, but only the Spirit of God knows of Gods thoughts. And Jesus lets us know in John that the Spirit will be our teacher and counselor. He knew just like you stated above-that there would be false teachers to come along and mislead people. That doesn't happen when we let the HS be our guide.
Perhaps the most useful thing we can teach to young Christians (and old ones) is that they need to take time before reading scripture-to prepare their hearts for the receiving of his word through prayer asking the HS to guide them and give them wisdom to understand God's word, not just opening the Bible, pointing to a place and beginning to read. I think that will be far more useful than letting the congregation or the pastor be the interpreter.
You don't want that responsibility either. How many pastors get frustrated hearing from someone that it's the pastor's job to feed them? No, it is our obedience to the Lord to meditate on his word and meditate means a lot more than just reading and drawing our own conclusions.
I love this topic! It's a fascinating one that commands a complex discussion. It's frustrating to discuss a topic with someone who takes scripture out of context & when you share all the history behind the scripture, sometimes it's so intricate & complicated that you feel you're losing them in the explanation.
Cate- That is awesome to hear that you are mentoring/meeting with this younger believer. I also like the advice that you have given her in regards to jumping to conclusions about isolated verses and texts.
ReplyDeleteMelinda- On many occasions I will open scripture with little or no 'prayer preparation,' which is not a good thing. It is very wise to humbly come before the Lord whenever we approach God's Word and ask the Holy Spirit's leading and guiding as we navigate the text.
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ReplyDeleteDave, I couldn't agree more with your 3 points. I was about to write something and then read your comment and you summed up my thoughts exactly (and better than I could have said them). Well said.
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