By Robert C. Blezard
Putting life into the word E
very Christian agrees that the Bible is the primary source for learning about God and knowing
how to live as children of God. Yet many—perhaps most—don’t know the Bible as well as they should, or even how to take what they do know and apply it in their daily life. Bibli- cal fluency may help make the Bible more relevant and accessible to God’s people.
Exercise 1: Daily ‘dose’ • If the Bible is medicine for the soul, do you take your dose daily? • On average, how many days a week do you read from the Bible? • How much discipline does it take to read Scripture regularly? • Without regular, intentional Bible reading, how can one expect to be either biblically fluent or literate? As a study group, explore and choose a plan for daily personal Bible reading, then each commit to doing it for six months. Share how it’s going each month.
Exercise 2: The ‘Holy’ Bible • What book (not the Bible) have you recently read and enjoyed immensely? • What did you like about it? • If it was fiction, which character did you identify with? • What did the character’s journey teach you about your life? • What insights did you gain into your life? • If it was nonfiction, why did you like it? • What did you learn? • Did it inspire or teach you about life? • How did you approach this book?
• Do you read the Bible in the same way? • Is the Bible’s “holy” status intimidating? Try reading a story or book of the
New Testament with the same atti- tude you would read any other book. Meet and share your experiences.
Exercise 3: Biblical attitudes • What do people tend to think about the Bible? • What have your friends said? • What have you thought? As a study group, make a list of words that come to mind about the Bible. Be honest and don’t censor words you think Christians aren’t “supposed” to think. Divide the list between positive words that would encourage someone to read the Bible and those that would discourage Bible reading. • Do you think the negative words are entirely fair? • How could your church help coun- teract negative attitudes about the Bible? • Would the suggestions at the end of Karl Jacobson’s article work for your congregation?
Exercise 4: Your Bible learning • How well do you know the Bible? • How would you describe that knowledge? • How did you learn? • Do you continue to study and learn? • Would you like to know more? • How enthusiastic are you about learning the Bible? • If a class or resource could help you better relate Scripture to your life, would you study it more?
This study guide is offered as one example of the more than 380 that are currently available on The Lutheran’s website. Download guides—free to print and Web subscribers—at
www.thelutheran.org (click “study guides”).
Study guide
Exercise 5: Biblical guilt Consider the following two state- ments: 1) Most Christians know that the Bible is a really, really, really important book. 2) Most Christians know full well that they don’t know much about the Bible. • To what degree are both statements true? • When they are both true, how is this a recipe for guilt? How about shame? • Are guilt and shame good motiva- tors for faith? • What are better motivators? • How can your congregation help people get into the Bible without guilt and shame over what they don’t know?
Exercise 6: The Bible ‘for me’ Select a favorite Bible passage or story and read it aloud. • How do you usually think about it? • What questions do you ask as you read it?
Now read the story again with the following supposition in mind: “The Bible is God’s gift for me, and there- fore God must have a teaching for me with every passage or story.” • Did the supposition change how you viewed the passage or story? • Did it open new questions for you? • Would the supposition, written on a bookmark that can be kept in a Bible, make a difference in how people appropriated Scripture in their lives?
As a project,
make or com- mission a book- mark like that for your congre- gation’s use.
Blezard is an assistant to the bishop of the Lower Susquehanna Synod. He has a master of divin- ity degree from Boston University and did subse- quent study at the Lutheran Seminary at Gettysburg (Pa.) and the Lutheran Seminary at Philadelphia.
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