Why Not Study the Bible?

You may think that a strange title for a post on  Bible study blog.  Obviously if you read this blog you must in some sense be interested in studying the Bible.  But I want to direct this question specifically to Christian education leaders in churches.  This is the time of year when curriculum is chosen.  Often new Sunday School classes or small groups are set up.

In many churches most of these groups will study some topic relevant to daily living.  If you’re doing well, you will use materials that are written from a Christian perspective or at least in conversation with Christianity.  Some of you will find a book on the Bible or a study guide that leads you step by step through a passage or Bible book, and you’ll study that.

Now I have nothing against all these ideas for study.  There is a place for all of those things.  I can hardly complain, considering that I publish some study curriculum, both for Bible study (Luke, Hebrews, and Revelation) and for specific topics such as spiritual gifts, prayer, and discipleship.

But at some point, Christian believers need to get to work and study the Biblical text directly for themselves.  A church based small group is a great place to get started on this.

I have a number of suggestions related to Bible study at this blog’s sister site, Participatory Bible Study.  There are many other resources online, and there are also resources in many places on the internet.

Here are some suggestions:

1. Have someone in the group who has previously been involved in serious Bible study.  The idea is not to have this person dominate, but to provide a check on group activities and to suggest resources.
2. Use a variety of Bible versions in your group.  Some people try to settle on a single translation so that everyone can follow along with any reading, but if you have nobody in the group who can consult the original languages (certainly a rarity these days!), comparing multiple versions will help you get a feel for different ways the source text might be understood.
3. Charge different members of the group with following all using different resources.  Commentaries, study Bibles, Bible dictionaries, and Bible handbooks are all useful if employed properly.  Don’t follow a single resource and simply accept what it says.
4. If you’re using study Bibles, again try to get different members of the group to consistently use different ones.  I am distressed when students resort to “the lower half of the page” when asked what a passage means.  You may need ideas from experts, but try to get more than one.
5. Don’t make your Bible study group into a prayer group, but don’t neglect prayer.
6. Challenge all members of the group to engage in Bible study daily and not just try to wing it during the hour or two that the group meets.
7. Be contagious.  Share what you learn around the church and in your community.  This is not only to provide them with the blessing of what you have learned, but to hear from them and potentially be corrected by them.
8. Don’t start with the hard books.  I am very anxious to get Christians to study the Pentateuch, for example, because it provides so much background for how we understand the message and ministry of Jesus.  But as much as I love Leviticus, I don’t recommend it as a starting point.  I recommend starting with a gospel such as Mark.  (Many recommend John, but I think you will get more out of John if you read Mark first.)
9. Be faithful.  It’s better to have a smaller group and commit to be there.  Showing up when you can may be necessary for some people’s work schedule, but make as strong a commitment as your life allows and then live up to it.

I believe that if you study the Bible directly, you will quickly find that it is very relevant as the answer to those other questions about life.  The folks who wrote books and study guides on specific topics generally started by studying the Bible and then applying the principles they found to a particular issue.  It’s valuable to share the results of their study, but as you can, go deeper!

So, why not study the Bible this fall in your church?