“The B-I-B-L-E, yes that’s the book for me, I stand alone on the Word of God, the B-I-B-L-E.” Depending on your level Sunday School education, that song might give you flashbacks, or maybe even a little tick, or maybe I’ve just put an earworm into your head for the rest of the day. That earworm then could turn into the Law for you if you sang it for long enough…I mean, is it really the book for me? How long has it been since I cracked open the text?
There’s this ongoing Scriptural “nag” that happens in Christian culture today. You can thank Martin Luther for that probably, or at least Johannes Gutenberg. You see, before we were able to mass produce Bibles there wasn’t the same expectation to “read Scripture”. Reading Scripture was something that was done by your priest for you on early morning daily masses, or just on Sundays if you were a little less pious. But ever since the printed text, and now even more so in the “app-ified” and “web-ified” text, there’s even more possibility for annoying pastors like myself to grouse about how you should read your Bible.
But nobody likes a nag. Nobody likes someone who “shoulds” all over them. Should you read your Bible? Well, I mean, yeah. But “should” is usually a poor motivator. “Hey this is important,” is a good motivator. “Uh-oh, I’m in trouble,” is another good motivator. But “should” usually only justifies the “should-er” who can walk away saying “Well, I told them….” maybe with the grinning add on, “and boy oh boy, did they ever feel guilty…”
So if “should” doesn’t work, then maybe “why” might work a little better. Maybe trying to figure out, “why not,” might help too. So for the next few Thursday newsletters, I’m going to try to address some of the common reasons that people just can’t seem to open the Bible on a regular basis (outside of worship) along with some of the reasons that might provide a “why” that might motivate you to read Scripture, and maybe even a little “how”.
Now, I know that’s going to bring up the old Scriptural nag. If you’re not reading the Bible currently, I probably have already brought up that “should” in your life that is causing you to wince, and maybe even not finish this newsletter. I can’t apologize for that, because it’s the Holy Spirit working in your life (John 16), but I can empathize with it. But trust me, let’s dig into this and see what comes of it. This year we have a big green banner in the Sanctuary that says we’re a “Community of Scripture,” and we should maybe see if that can be a joy.
Besides (and don’t let this be an excuse to not read but…) Jesus will forgive you for not reading His Word. He doesn’t like that, by the way, but He will forgive it. And He will give you faith through His Word read on Sundays and His Word trickling in your ears other ways. But it might be fun to see what more Scripture might mean in your life. Let’s take the next few weeks to think about that.