(Photo Cred: Luis Quintero via PEXELS.com)
I wrestle with this song I’ve heard sung in Sunday Schools
and taught to children. On one hand,
equating our actions with spiritual growth worries me. Someone could go through the actions of
reading the Bible every single day (reading it like a novel, textbook, or collection
of poems) and also assume they’re praying (by thinking good thoughts and telling
whatever gods exist what they’d like to see happen), and think that’s all that’s
necessary to “grow, grow, grow.”
In
reality, faith must be present. Reading
and listening to the Bible is a discipline, as is prayer to the one true God. These are exercises we do in trust, dependence,
and thankfulness to the God who has spoken his will and redeemed his people. If a person truly believes and is saved, and
does these things, they are to their benefit, their growth! Without faith, they might make a person feel
good and have others who see them think a certain way about them; however, the
actions don’t cause growth on their own.
I
write these words to encourage Christians to read their Bibles daily!
Barna
Group, a research organization that looks primarily at things regarding
religion and spirituality, has been tracking Bible readership for decades. In 2016, they released a study with results
from interviewing over 12,000 Americans, by random telephone interviews and not
necessarily Christian believers, over the course of 2011-2016. The results showed that 58% of respondents
never read the Bible or only read it 1-4 times a year outside of church
services and events; 7% read it once a month; 8% once a week; and 27% read the
Bible 4-7 days each week.
A
2019 study, commissioned by the American Bible Society and conducted by Barna,
of over 2,000 U.S. adults used different terminology but showed a similar
trend. 48% of respondents are Bible
disengaged: “Interact with the Bible infrequently, if at all. It has minimal impact on their lives.” 9% are Bible neutral: “Interact with the
Bible sporadically. It has little
spiritual influence, but that influence may be growing.” 19% are Bible friendly: “Interact with the Bible
consistently. It may be a source of
spiritual insight and wisdom.” 19% are
Bible engaged: “Interact with the Bible frequently. It is transforming their relationship with
God and others.” 5% are Bible centered: “Interact
with the Bible frequently. It is
transforming their relationships and shaping their choices.” While this glimpse into the study doesn’t
tell us the number of times respondents read the Bible in a week, 24% fall into
the two categories of frequent Bible interaction compared to the 27% reading
the Bible 4-7 days per week in the 2016 study.
What
does this information show? In 2014,
another research group, the Pew Research Center, conducted telephone interviews
of over 35,000 Americans. 70.6% identified
as Christians. There may be some
disagreement with what denominations, traditions, and sets of beliefs ought to
fall under the umbrella of orthodox (true) Christian faith, but 70.6% of Americans
are claiming to be Christians. Back to
the Barna studies, just above a quarter of Americans report that they have a frequent
diet or exercise of reading the Bible most days of each week, leaving somewhere
around 40-45% of Christians not reading the Bible “every day.”
We
can disagree with these surveys. We can
think the number of respondents for each study was too little or too much or
too skewed when it comes to answering—but these are respected and trusted organizations. What we should wrestle with is the engagement
in our own lives, our families, our friends, our congregations, and beyond with
God’s word. Recognizing these were
studies of American adults does not make these political in any sense; a
list of people with phone numbers who could be contacted in the United States
of America is simply who was polled. A rather
large number of those who claim to believe in Jesus, which I hope would entail a
belief that they are saved, and hopefully (though not necessarily)
participation and even membership in a local congregation, are not regularly
reading or hearing from the Word that God has revealed himself and his plan for
salvation through.
When
we look at our country, a country where a hair over 70% of American adults
claim to be Christian (according to the U.S. Census Bureau website, there are
currently over 329 million people in the United States), there is so much
conflict and disagreement in and outside of the church. There are many changes in our society that
have occurred in practice and attitude and acceptance over the last 70 years—some
that I’m okay with, others not so much. I’m
a firm believer that the devil continues his work; he continues to lie and destroy
and divide. I also believe Christians
can disagree on many things in our lives, and not necessarily be right or wrong
or jeopardizing salvation. But how
can we profess and live out faith while ignoring the word that teaches us about
the faith, that teaches us what God desires for our benefit, that equips us to
share the good news—Jesus living a perfectly obedient life, substituting himself
for us and the penalty of our sin under God’s wrath, dying on the cross in our
place, and rising again to live, reign, and guarantee our salvation—with others? We need the Bible and to read the Bible.
I
can say for myself there are days when I don’t open my physical Bible or a
Bible app or website and read a passage—I haven’t perfectly disciplined myself. To get to a point where I’m regularly in God’s
word took me many more years than I’d like to admit as someone who was raised
in a family of Christians, always had access to multiple Bibles, attended
church weekly, went to Christian schools, professed my faith around age 14, and
is now a pastor. I give this information
and encouragement not to shame anyone or feel like less of a Christian if you struggle
to regularly, consistently, frequently—daily—read the Bible.
I’m
not naïve. I know that simply reading this
book more does not overcome all the different interpretations and attitudes
that people have today. But the inspired
Word of God does tell us how we’re to understand what we’re reading. Moses was speaking for God to the Israelites when
he said, “‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are
to be upon your hearts. Impress them on
your children. Talk about them when you
sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you
get up. Tie them as symbols on your
hands and bind them on your foreheads.
Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates’”
(Deuteronomy 6:4-9).
Over
and over again in his letters to Timothy, the apostle Paul warns one of the
young pastors who he viewed as a son to avoid false doctrines, myths, endless
genealogies, controversies and quarrels about words, godless chatter, foolish
and stupid arguments. He encourages him,
“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of,
because you know those whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known
the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through
faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is
God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2
Timothy 3:14-17).
Where
else can we turn to be made for salvation through faith in Jesus? Nowhere.
If you believe in God and believe you are saved, read your Bible every
day. If you’re new to the faith, read
your Bible as much as you can—and if you run stuck, ask a Christian brother or
sister for help. (If you don’t know a
Christian brother or sister, get connected to a church and meet a pastor!) If you’re a parent, take up the responsibility
given to you and minister to your kids.
Be equipped so you and they might “grow, grow, grow.”
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