My article from this week's edition of the Rockford Squire:
In decades past, it was necessary in many places for a problem to be addressed in the Church – largely across denominational lines. In many circles, it was common for people to hold the misconception that if they attended a Sunday service, they had their weekly dose of God’s Word, and it would hold them over for the week until they repeated the process. As a result, there was broad encouragement for people to read their Bibles at home, on their own, or to gather with a peer group to discuss it. Bible distribution increased to greater levels than previously witnessed. Other disciplines like a daily, individual “quiet time” emerged, and Bible reading in the home really did increase.
Today, we can
still see residual effects of that movement, but we have reached the point
where an opposite correction may be in order.
However people approach what they read in the Bible, one can see a generally
positive attitude toward it, but today, it can be witnessed that many people who
identify as Christians only read their Bible at home alone. When the effort was made to encourage Bible
reading in those past decades, it was intended to be in addition to hearing the
Scriptures on Sunday, but in a growing number of cases, it has become what
people do instead of hearing the Scriptures in a weekly service.
While there is
certainly a danger in a preacher twisting the Bible to say what he wants it to
say, the danger is equal or greater when the reader becomes his own
preacher. If someone proclaiming God’s
word publicly strays from the truth, there are others there to correct him, but
when the reader only preaches to himself, there is no one to correct his errors,
and they have the opportunity to compound.
So, do read your
Bible, even at home alone, but also gather with other Christians to hear God’s
Word proclaimed and explained. Receive
the Sacraments in a weekly service, and discuss the Scriptures with others,
whether in a structured study or a less formal group. Even have a live expert in your corner who
can be your guide to quality resources beyond your Bible to aid your
understanding, and coach you (preferably with knowledge of the original Greek
and Hebrew language of Scripture) in understanding what you have read and how
other Christians have historically. Grow
deeper not in just what the Bible means to you, but in knowledge of what it
actually means, so that you would gain assurance in genuine, reliable
truth.
