What is the primary way we use Scripture today? I think the answer, at least in our society, is private reading and study. The majority of our spiritual advice can be summed up in "study the Bible more." The moral of many sermons is simply that we don't read the Bible enough. I think that this is absolutely true, but I probably mean something a little different.
While I obviously agree that we, in general, don't read the Bible enough individually that isn't actually my main gripe. I think we don't read the Bible enough out loud, in community, as a part of worship. This, I think, should be a central part of our gatherings every week. We should simply read the Bible out loud and listen together in community.
How much is the Bible read aloud in your gathering? I'm talking specifically about just reading, not during sermons or classes. How often is the Bible simply read without someone commenting on or explaining it? Just the Scriptures read aloud for all to hear without anecdotes, personal stories, or extrapolations. I don't think it is very much most places.
Where I attend at the moment, the church I spent my latter high school years at, interned at, and where my father serves as elder, we have a period of Scripture reading during every Sunday morning service. On average, the reading is about four verses long. The other week the passage was nine verses long and it was commented on just how long it was. Nine verses!
I think this attitude is more prevalent than in just one church. Scripture, if it is even read at all, is read in short snippets as to not bore people. The majority of the service is then dedicated to someone preaching/teaching about Scripture, not the simple reading of Scripture itself. We assume, wrongly, that people are reading their Bibles at home and that they will get bored with too long a reading. If we are worried people will get bored from the reading of Scripture, doesn't that tell us there is a severe problem?
Reading Scripture aloud forces you to slow down and listen to the words. There is no speed reading when you are listening to the words read in community. It helps with memorization, internalization, and binding the community together. This was how the vast majority of Christians experienced Scripture for nearly 1900 years and still is in places around the globe with lower literacy rates and less access to books.
The Bible is primarily a liturgical book. It's primary use is to be read in community in the context of prayer and worship. That's where it is most at home. It was written to the community of God and passed down by the community of God, under the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit. I'm not saying that we shouldn't read the Bible on our own, we obviously should. What I am saying is that the Bible is best understood in the context of the worshipping community.
I think we should devote more of our time in service to simply reading Scripture. At the beginning of the summer, right when I moved down to Texas, I had the opportunity to attend services a couple of times at a nearby Anglican church, just for fun. They were very liturgical, having everything planned out. Guess how much Scripture was read?
FOUR CHAPTERS!
They read, every Sunday, a Psalm, a chapter from the Old Testament, a chapter from the Gospels, and a chapter from the New Testament. It took up quite a chunk of the service, but man was it awesome. I compare that to most church experiences I've had in my life, at the "more biblical" churches (note sarcasm), where the Bible was barely read at all. We talked about the Bible far more than we read it.
I urge everyone to read Scripture aloud in community more. Slow down and listen to the Bible together. Surround this time with prayer and silence so that the words may be chewed on and the Word encountered through them. Don't just say the Bible is important to your congregation, show it by giving it the time it deserves.
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