Reading the Bible in Community
My experience with the Bible growing up was going to church and being taught by a pastor, and then being encouraged to read the Bible on my own. Then many began to emphasize the importance of being in a small group in order to study the Bible, pray, hold each other accountable, etc. This past week I had the privilege of being a part of a short term mission trip to New York City with 23 teenagers and 7 leaders. One of our many faith building activities included group Bible studies. Every student and leader took a turn leading the rest of the group as we studied through Philippians. It was a great encouragement to work through a book of the Bible with so many people. There were observations that I never would have seen or noticed. It reminded me that the ways that we interact with Scripture are not ONLY limited to what is most convenient. Going to church and sitting under the teaching of godly, spiritual leaders is Biblical and essential, but it is also relatively easy . . . all I need to do is show up. Reading the Bible on my own, is a bit more of a commitment, but it is still quite easy to accomplish. Studying the Bible with a small group takes a bit more work to gather people together. But reading the Bible with a large group may only happen if we are very intentional. I am certainly not trying to say that the harder it is to accomplish means that it is better, I am just encouraging us all to not limit ourselves to only reading the Bible in the most convenient ways. God seems to enjoy showing up in our lives in the context of community.