How to Do Communal Reading of Bible

How to Reclaim Communal Reading of the Bible

Bring people together effectually God's Word

How do you read the Bible?

Do yous find a repose corner at dwelling house where yous tin read it silently? Exercise yous burn up a Bible app while beingness jostled on a commuter train? Or practice you await for a Sunday service and follow forth as you hear it read—and explained—to you?

You might discover it surprising that silent reading was more often than not unknown in Bible times. In its original course, Scripture was read aloud, and normally in community.

The Discussion Heard

In the Quondam Testament, we see the prophet Ezra assembling the nation of Israel and reading them the Police of Moses, inviting them to reaffirm their covenant to the Lord (Nehemiah eight:1-12). In Luke, nosotros find Jesus standing up earlier his local synagogue and reading part of the coil of Isaiah (Luke iv:16-21). When Paul wrote a letter of the alphabet to a church, he would transport the ringlet with a messenger, who would read it to the congregation (Colossians 4:vii,16).

This public reading of Scripture was common. Because biblical texts were hand-written and scrolls were rare and expensive, virtually no one owned a personal copy. In the days of Jesus, each synagogue by and large had one copy of the Torah, which was kept in a large cabinet. In fact, these texts were and so rare that if you read them individually and quietly it might be considered a selfish act.

Yet in our digital historic period, where Bibles can be purchased at the dollar store and Bible apps tin can be downloaded for free, it can feel a bit dissimilar to read the Bible with others and out loud. In many corners of our culture, people are retreating behind the screens of computers or cell phones for alone experiences. And in the religious sphere, at least for those in the evangelical tradition, in that location is great emphasis on the individual'due south response to God. In such privatized church environments, it might feel uncomfortable to see the soul-shaping Word of God in concert with others.

Only what would it look similar if we returned to this aboriginal exercise? What if nosotros recovered the do of reading the Bible in community?

Benefits of Reading Together

Consider some of the benefits of reading Scripture with others:

• Hearing the Bible read offers a fresh perspective and brings an added alertness to the content. Last year my son and I read through the Bible in a yr; nosotros'd read a passage from the Erstwhile Testament, the New Attestation, and a Psalm or Maxim aloud to each other each morning time. Though I'd read several of the passages dozens of times previously, these familiar sections often met me in new ways through hearing it read aloud in ways reading it silently and alone never did before.
• Reading it with others can jolt us out of the accepted American mindset of individualism and into a bigger story that includes many others. Information technology can remind usa that God's story is more than just me and Jesus. We are a part of a larger family unit of believers.
• Reading it aloud helps u.s.a. relish and soak in the Scriptures more richly. Because our eyes can browse words faster than our mouths can formulate them, the act of slowing downwardly to hear the passage through an audible reading can help us to pay attention more than keenly. Reading aloud reminds u.s. that depth tin can exist more important than speed.
• Hearing someone else read—with their unique reading personality of pauses, intonation, gestures, speed, and style—makes the passage more than personal and forces u.s.a. to heed more attentively than if we were but skimming over a page ourselves.
• Reading with others allows space for discussion, interaction, dialogue, and engagement before, during, and later our reading.

Ways to Endeavor Reading Communally

Consider some of these practices, resource, and ideas:

• Several groups are showtime to host listening experiences where they gather only to read the Bible out loud. A group of Christians in Portland would assemble together on Friday nighttime for a repast, then sit in the living room and hear an entire volume of the Bible read aloud, with no commentary. Then they would shut in prayer at the cease of the evening. For this diverse group of people, it was a deeply formative, meaningful, and fun practice.
• A educatee-heavy church building in Virginia challenged members to only read their Bibles with others—a roommate, a friend, a grouping—for an unabridged semester. Many found the experience to exist eye-opening and continued the practice long after the semester concluded. Effort using the resources bachelor through Community Bible Feel, which challenge groups inside churches to read together.
• Consider reading a short passage of Scripture together every bit a family at the breakfast tabular array or at the end of dinner before the dishes are cleared. If your kids are one-time enough, accept a different person read each day.
• When traveling with others or on road trips, listen to Scripture together in the automobile on audiobooks, via CDs or through apps such equally YouVersion or Bible.IS.
• During one Lent, we challenged people in our church to read the four Gospels and respond iv questions for forty days, calling it the four:4:40 challenge. We encouraged participants to connect weekly over a repast in someone's home throughout the flavour of Lent and talk over the four questions together.
  1. What did Jesus say almost himself?
  2. What did Jesus teach about the nature of reality?
  3. What did Jesus tell his listeners to practice?
  4. How did Jesus model what he taught in the manner he lived?

Reading Scripture in community can be a fun and formative practice, bringing out the rich texture of the story of the Bible in new and fresh ways. It only takes a little initiative to remember differently than our current default mode of silent and individual.

J.R. Briggs

J.R. Briggs started Kairos Partnerships in 2011 where his role is expressed through coaching, consulting, speaking, education, equipping and writing to serve a wide variety of leaders, pastors, churches, not-profits, ministries, companies and denominations. Over the past several years, he has invested in kingdom leaders in over 23 states from over 40 different denominations. In addition to starting Kairos Partnerships, he planted The Renew Community, received a master'south degree in Missional Theology at Biblical Theological Seminary, and is currently working on a Dr. of Ministry building degree at Biblical. His doctoral thesis focuses on how question-asking in leadership tin advance God's mission. He is an author, co-author and contributed to nine books that seek to equip and treat kingdom leaders. J.R. and his wife Megan have been married for over 16 years and have two sons, Carter and Bennett.

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Source: https://news.americanbible.org/blog/entry/bible-engagement-leadership/how-to-reclaim-communal-reading-of-the-bible

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