Last week, our Bible study through Hebrews dealt with the utility of Scripture in entering into God’s rest. The passage is familiar:
Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:11-12)
As 2010 quickly approaches, I believe this passage is a timely reminder to renewing our energies in becoming more familiar with Scripture. For all the merits of Word-based churches, the general level of biblical literacy among Christians within these churches still remains far below what it should be. Even as a pastor, I don’t consider myself an exception to the contemporary trend. I know my level of biblical competency would be woefully inadequate (relatively speaking) if I were living during the period of Colonial Revival in the Great Awakening or in a community of English Puritans. Most of us understand disparate theological truths but are unable to find their biblical justification. We make arguments, peppered with Scripture as proof-texts, but rarely know the broader contexts of the passages we cite from. We are familiar with the better-known Bible stories, Sunday School flannel graphs firmly embedded in our memories, but are unaware of their theological significance.
QUESTION: Do we view Scripture as an anthology of sorts; a collection of random unrelated stories or do we understand the biblical metanarrative? A fancy word I know but its meaning is simple: the metanarrative of Scripture is the overarching storyline of the Bible, unifying Old and New Testaments into a single, grand narrative. In other words, the metanarrative is the “big picture” of God’s recorded actions, progressively building in crescendo in the Old Covenant until it reaches its pinnacle in Jesus Christ.
The best way to become conversant with the metanarrative is really quite simple: READ THE BIBLE. But as with most other things, it is difficult to apply. Laziness, distraction, and busyness all prove to be formidable impediments. The best way to overcome these anticipated difficulties and ensure daily Scripture intake is anchoring yourself to a Bible-reading plan. And there are a number of good ones to choose from.
For example, my small group guys have picked the following as their personal reading 2010 reading plans:
David Lee: Year of the Bible. This is the plan that I’ve been using this past year and the official reading schedule of Berean Community Church. It consists of a systematic reading of OT and NT, 1 passage in each every day. I’ve been making video notes every week to coincide with the readings and by the end of the year, hope to have an online archive made available through our church website. (3-4 chapters/day)
Alex Yi: Grant Horner Bible-reading System. This plan is made up of 10 lists, organized by genres (e.g., Gospels, Epistles, OT History, Prophets, etc.). Every day, the reader goes through 1 chapter in each list, adding up to a total of 10 chapters of reading a day. It’s quite a large load but the advantage of this plan is that it gives the reader wide exposure through a variety of different biblical genres. This results in a balanced reading diet. (10 chapters/day)
Byron Chu: Chronological Reading Plan. Most people may not be aware of this but the Bible has been organized by genre and not chronologically. The arrangement of this plan has required some guess-work as it’s difficult to date everything in the Bible with exact precision but there are some clear appeals in reading through the events recorded in Scripture in chronological order. (3-4 chapters/day)
Jason Kim: He’s decided not to read the Bible this year. Just kidding. He’s also doing Year of the Bible.
As you can see, there are a number of options to choose from when it comes to selecting a reading plan. In fact, there are others that haven’t yet been mentioned including the M’Cheyne Plan, organized into “family” and “secret” (i.e., private) readings. This could also be easily divided up as “morning” and “evening” readings. Another reading plan I’d recommend comes from the 2-volume D.A. Carson book, For the Love of God, which tracks the reader through the OT once and the NT and Psalms twice each year. Carson provides helpful commentary with respect to each day’s readings, directing the reader’s attention from the daily selection to the larger themes of Scripture.
So as 2010 draws near, I ask: “Are you on a plan?” “What are you doing to get more familiar with Scripture?” Any of these plans can be customized so that it suits your personal reading habits and schedule but the fact remains: we should be aiming to deepen our grasp of Scripture every year that God blesses us to live. I’m thoroughly convinced that it will help us to love Jesus more.
I received an e-mail this morning from Anthony Locke, asking about the best way to mark up his Bible. The first thing that came to mind is a story P. Peter Chung told me when a Jewish Christian visited our seminary. He was explaining some of the differences between Jewish believers and us Gentile folk. One humorous thing he mentioned was that Christians tend to treat our Bibles like coloring books! We aren’t afraid to mark all over them, spilling highlighter ink liberally, and jotting down whatever pops to our minds when we’re reading through the Word. I don’t think he said this to discourage the practice, only to draw a contrast between that and the typically “clean” look of a Bible carried by a Jewish believer.
I don’t actually mark my current Bible. I’ve grown accustomed to marking down my observations and thoughts in a handy Moleskine Cahier (I know, an overpriced indulgence). Either way, interacting with any text through physical markings, be it a Bible or a book, is a helpful way to think over, process, and reflect on the information that you are absorbing.
So if you’re in the habit of marking your Bible or plan to start, I’d advise the following:
1) Try not to underline unless it’s a specific verse that is particularly meaningful. Why? Because you’re going to find that every verse is meaningful (after all, we’re talking about the divine, Spirit-breathed, Word of God) and pretty soon your whole Bible will be underlined! In other words, be selective in underlining.
2) This is related to the first, but bracket verses and sections that are unified by one single thought. This is a lot more efficient than underlining 7-10 different lines of text. For example, Malachi 2:10-16 is a single unit of thought, whereas v.17 introduces what follows in chapter 3 in the next unit of thought. I would put a little mark on the top, left-hand corner of the v.10 and then a little mark on the bottom, right-hand corner of v.16. This way you can break up the flow of a narrative, epistle, or psalm and understand its structure and organization with minimal markings on your Bible. This is also helpful because the chapter and verse divisions of the Bible do not typically correspond with the actual breaks and structure of whatever you’re reading (these reference notations were inserted at a later point in history and are not Spirit-inspired).
3) If you’re secure enough in your manhood (women need not worry here) and don’t mind carrying the extra baggage, use different color pens. Coordinate different colors for different purposes or ideas. For example, you may want to use a blue pen to mark devotional-type passages that have been especially meaningful to you. You might want to use a red pen to mark verses that you might use for apologetics-related discussions (e.g., John 1:1, 14; Col. 1:15-20 as verses that defend the deity of Christ), and a green pen to mark verses that cover a particularly meaningful theme (e.g., God’s patience; prayer; etc.). Again, colors and topics are customizable. You can keep a handy index of the colors and their corresponding categories in the front or back of your Bible. And in light of advice #1, I’d circle the verse numbers rather than underlining the entire thing.
4) Get a journaling Bible if you want to record more extensive thoughts down. Most Bibles don’t provide enough space in the margins to jot down anything more than a word or a short phrase. Journaling Bibles provide more space for lengthier exposition and reflection. Also, they typically come stocked with thicker paper to prevent bleed-through. Or if you’re an overachiever and really want to go for the extra mile, make a “blank Bible” (inspired by Jonathan Edwards). I actually made one of these before with a friend but I never ended up using it. I was simply too terrified of messing up because it took so much effort to make. I ended up just giving it away.
5) Don’t use a normal pen or highlighter. Invest in a Bible highlighter or marker to compensate for the typically razor-thin pages that most Bibles are made with.
Anyways, those are my two cents. Many of the same principles can be adopted for most other kinds of books. If you have further suggestions, I’d welcome your insight in the comments!
