Biblical Interpretation in Community

How often do you read the Bible in a group setting?  Before you think of your answer, eliminate the times the pastor at your church reads passages of Scripture out loud to the congregation.  Now how often do you read the Bible in a group setting?  You may have once been part of a Bible study, read through a book of the Bible or through a Christian-themed book, but now find yourself a part of no group of believers that feed on the word of God.  You only now occasionally read for yourself.

I'm talking to myself a whole lot here.  My Bible reading is either on my own in times when I'm alone, when the preacher says, "Follow along while I read," or recently when I have an assignment for my classes.  Nowhere in that list includes a time when I read the Bible with another human being in hopes to study, learn, interpret, and apply the word of God to my life.  "But Andrew, it's a good thing to spend time reading the Bible on your own, especially in quiet times."  I agree, this does often reveal a heart that longs more and more for a deeper relationship with the Lord.  However, I would like to use this blog to communicate the importance of reading Scripture in community and point out why it can be dangerous to avoid such a great opportunity.

One of my exam study questions asked for us to identify five reasons why biblical interpretation in community was important.  Here I go, without looking back at my notes.  First, our sin can cause us to approach Scripture willfully blind, seeing, reading, and learning only what we want to see, read, and learn.  This can warp our interpretation and can cramp our ability to apply the Bible to ethics in relevant ways without seeing the totality of a theme across Scripture.  Second, as brothers and sisters in Christ, we are our brothers' and sisters' keeper.  It is our responsibility to encourage and lift one another up in word and truth.  Third, we have the limitation of one human life's experience at looking at Scripture through our one lens.  Reading in community will provide many more perspectives in understanding not just "what this passage means to me uniquely," but rather "what aspects of the text am I missing or have an unclear understanding of?"  Fourth, everything that is written in the Bible, at its original written time in history, was meant to be read to the masses or specific churches, not individuals.  The body of Christ has many members, but is of one body.  If our personal application of Scripture does not stack up to the mission of the church as a whole, our application is misinformed.  Finally, the gospel message is meant for people from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation (Rev. 5:9).  If our reading of the Bible is with a group of believers with similar social, cultural, racial, historical backgrounds as you, this will also create some blind spots to interpretation.

I can get wrapped up in my own understanding of Scripture and haven't taken time to appreciate that different views people have of the word doesn't mean that they are necessarily wrong and that mine are right, it just means that they bring with them a unique lens in which to view Scripture, which shouldn't make interpretation foggier, but should reveal the richness and depth of God through Jesus Christ.

In hopes to go in the right direction, my wife and I are going to start attending a Bible study class at our church.  I'm excited because the group will be filled with fellow believers who look, act, and think differently than we do.  Please pray that going in this direction challenges us to learn more about God, our spiritual family, each other, and our own selves.

Meeting with Ruth earlier today on Skype right before she
was going on a roadtrip to meet with Jonathan.  Don't worry,
she drove safely and kept her eyes on the road.

For those of you who don't know, the executive director of 2nd Mile Ministries, Ruth, is in transition to step down and allow our new director, Jonathan Blackburn, step in to take over.  Their leadership will overlap so a successful handoff can occur.  For more about the new director, you can go to http://www.2ndmile-jax.com/ and read about his story.  Ruth will be missed by many, since she was one of the founders of the ministry all the way back in 2003.  There will probably be a future blog devoted just to her as she leaves for good.  Pray the transition goes smoothly.

In conclusion, think about creative ways in which you could read and interpret Scripture in community if you haven't already.  It could be as simple as starting with your own family.  Maybe your church provides small groups to join.  If not, maybe God wants you to step out in faith and ask people you know to start reading, with the intention of loving God and his people better.  I will pray for you, whoever you may be.