Back to Basics II

Bible Study is a Do-It-Yourself Project

Do-it-yourself!

Yes, we get together for Bible Study, and for hearing messages from Scripture spoken to us by our leaders, but in many ways Bible Study is a Do-It-Yourself project. The average Christian spends an insignificant amount of time actually studying Scripture (in comparison to time spent watching TV, participating in sports events, etc…). I said in my last blog, most people who attend a Bible Study show up to listen, with very little in-depth study being done at home by themselves.

Bible study is just that – study, and is not for ‘sissies.’ Bible study is hard work and is a do-it-yourself activity!

Many will say that they are not smart enough to understand Scripture, but take no initiative to find out how to study Scripture. Those feeling are old holdovers taught to us centuries ago by Church Fathers – that only they were able to read and understand Scripture. You can do-it-yourself.

God has given us His Word to read. Men and women have died to protect the Word. God arranged for hand written scrolls to be found in the caves at Quamran in Israel so that we can know for sure that what we are reading is authentic. The invention of the printing press assures that believes can each have a copy. Yet most of us sitting in pews every week don’t consider studying the words of God important. When we do open the pages it is just casual reading – not study. Call it what it is for most of us “Bible Reading” not “Bible Study.”

At three different churches I have surveyed thirty senior adult women who have been ‘life-long’ Christians, and asked them to fill out a questionnaire that asks: how long have your been a Christian, do you consider yourselves ‘baby’ or ‘mature’ Christians, and, how many times have you read the entire Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. The results are disappointing; most are in their 60-70’s and have been Christians since childhood. The majority still consider themselves “babies” in the faith, and only one or two (of 30) answer that they have read the entire Bible. (My guess is that men will answer the same way.)

Another thing - Bible Study is not….

Bible Study is not reading your ‘daily devotional.’ Spending five minutes a day reading one verse, and then reading comments by someone else is not study. Reading devotionals is just reading what someone else thinks about one or two verses. These devotional studies are wonderful for encouragement and to elicit some introspection about the daily life of the reader, but it is not Bible Study.

I have several daily devotionals that I read: Upper Room, Daily Bread, Billy Graham and Joyce Meyer…but these are not Bible Studies! Read Scripture - do-it-yourself, don’t read someone else’s comments.

But honestly – why bother reading Scripture? Most Christians really don’t. I want to help women study the Scripture, and teach women that they can, and should, do-it-themselves.

My next few blogs will be about “why” study Scripture.