The odyssey blog is a great blog. Chris Erdman and Alan Roxburgh are the authors and they have been blogging some great posts on cultivating practices for missional churches. Today's blog Cultivating the Practices in a Ordinary Congregation: Toward Immsersing Ourselves in Scripture is brilliant. Chris writes:
At UPC we continue to deepen our practice of immersing
ourselves in Holy Scripture. Complementing our intention several years
ago to more fully enter the Christian life by engaging the practices of
faith--spending a year growing first in the practices of prayer (2003)
and second in hospitality (2004)-- this year’s practice, reading
Scripture, deepens and enriches the others.
Many Christians find themselves overwhelmed with Scripture. How do
I enter into the big book? Where do I start? What do I do with parts I
simply can’t understand and others I really don’t like? Some feel
compelled to read it as they would a novel; starting in Genesis they do
alright until they get to Leviticus. And then . . . well, not many can
read Leviticus and stay motivated. The history of Bible-reading is
strewn with well intentions.
I think it is very important for Christians to know the broad sweep
of the Story. And it’s good to have read the whole Bible. But for those
who find that a daunting task, let me suggest something that could set
you free to read the Bible and not only enjoy it but be nourished.
I love the idea of spending a year learning the practice of reading scripture, the practice of hospitality and the practice of prayer. This demonstrates that to cultivate a practice or a habit takes time. We can't become good readers of scripture in one week, there is no fast-food, easy route to the art of reading scripture. Secondly, Chris highlights the importance of having a grasp of the 'broad sweep of the Story'. This is so important. We need to know the whole story, not our favourite bite-size chunks. When we know the whole story, as Wells points out, we know where we fit in the story (see post below).
I've quoted this paragraph from John Webster before, but its so important: ‘we do not read well; and we do not read well, not only because of technical incompetence, cultural distance from the substance of the text or lack of readerly sophistication, but also and most of all because in reading Scripture we are addressed by that which runs clean counter to our will. Reading Scripture is thus a moral matter; it requires that we become certain kinds of readers, whose reading is taken up into the history of reconciliation,’ (Holy Scripture, 2003, 87)
I'd love Bunyan to become a church that dedicates itself to cultivating and learning the kinds of practices of reading scripture, hospitality and prayer. I've blogged more on reading scripture here and here.
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