Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Bible Reading Pathways
A colleague of mine sent me this table and I found it most interesting. It is a reproduction of a table from M.G. Mulholland Jr's book, "Invitation to a Journey".
Mulholland takes the various Myers-Briggs personality traits and breaks down the different spiritual characteristics of each. I found it interesting to note how he suggests that the 8 different personality traits all prefer/require different approaches to reading the Scriptures.
I guess this should come as no surprise really - different people need to be introduced to different ways of reading the Bible. So often we buy into one specific 'way' of reading the Bible and urge those in our spiritual care to adopt that method.
Perhaps we should be studying the various spiritual pathways (see Gary Thomas' book - "Sacred Pathways"), helping young people to discern their pathway, and helping them find appropriate ways to explore the Bible in a manner that is inspiring and engaging for them.
Mulholland takes the various Myers-Briggs personality traits and breaks down the different spiritual characteristics of each. I found it interesting to note how he suggests that the 8 different personality traits all prefer/require different approaches to reading the Scriptures.
I guess this should come as no surprise really - different people need to be introduced to different ways of reading the Bible. So often we buy into one specific 'way' of reading the Bible and urge those in our spiritual care to adopt that method.
Perhaps we should be studying the various spiritual pathways (see Gary Thomas' book - "Sacred Pathways"), helping young people to discern their pathway, and helping them find appropriate ways to explore the Bible in a manner that is inspiring and engaging for them.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Google 'Bible' Trends
Not sure what to do with this, but I find it very interesting. This graph shows the trend in hits on Google's search engine for the word 'bible'. It shows a distinct and consistent downward trend over the past 5 years.
A declining interest in the Bible? What do you think?
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Catholic Bishops Push Bible Engagement
At the recent World Youth Day held in Australia, Cardinal George Pell of Sydney outlined five ways that Catholic Bishops could make the Bible relevant for young people:-
"1. Form young adult lay teams to witness in youth groups, schools and universities
2. Expound the Gospel through drama that would be the equivalent of the medieval Mystery Plays
3. Use social networking sites more effectively for Biblical study
4. Work quicker and harder on making the Scriptures available in more languages
5. Encourage the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to produce guidelines on the inerrancy of Scripture"
http://www.youthworkinternational.com/articles/20081017_2
There are some interesting themes in these five points. Pell is acknowledging the need for contextualized ministry, visual communication, harnessing of technological developments, production of contemporary translations and a grounding in orthodox theology. I'm often guilty of failing to look to the Catholic church for inspiration on Bible Engagement issues, but I must admit Pell's ideas seem particularly astute.
"1. Form young adult lay teams to witness in youth groups, schools and universities
2. Expound the Gospel through drama that would be the equivalent of the medieval Mystery Plays
3. Use social networking sites more effectively for Biblical study
4. Work quicker and harder on making the Scriptures available in more languages
5. Encourage the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to produce guidelines on the inerrancy of Scripture"
http://www.youthworkinternational.com/articles/20081017_2
There are some interesting themes in these five points. Pell is acknowledging the need for contextualized ministry, visual communication, harnessing of technological developments, production of contemporary translations and a grounding in orthodox theology. I'm often guilty of failing to look to the Catholic church for inspiration on Bible Engagement issues, but I must admit Pell's ideas seem particularly astute.
Oz Bible Reading Stats
"I wish to clarify information about NCLS survey results related to Bible reading. There has been NO CHANGE in the overall levels of frequent Bible reading (ie more than weekly) in the past 15 years.
Around a third (35%) of church attenders read the Bible daily or at least a few times each week. This frequency of Bible reading varies greatly between denominations, from a high of 72% among Pentecostal attenders to just 12% of Catholic attenders. These denominational variations reflect traditional differences between Catholic and Protestant approaches to the place of personal Bible reading in the life of the believer.
While the proportion of attenders who read the Bible at least a few times per week has not changed much in the past 15 years, the proportion of Protestant attenders who read the Bible every day has decreased since 1991. These decreases have mostly occurred among Baptist and Pentecostal attenders."
Dr Ruth Powell, NCLS Research
http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=8944
Around a third (35%) of church attenders read the Bible daily or at least a few times each week. This frequency of Bible reading varies greatly between denominations, from a high of 72% among Pentecostal attenders to just 12% of Catholic attenders. These denominational variations reflect traditional differences between Catholic and Protestant approaches to the place of personal Bible reading in the life of the believer.
While the proportion of attenders who read the Bible at least a few times per week has not changed much in the past 15 years, the proportion of Protestant attenders who read the Bible every day has decreased since 1991. These decreases have mostly occurred among Baptist and Pentecostal attenders."
Dr Ruth Powell, NCLS Research
http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=8944
Some Personal Reflections
At this point in time, I am personally engaged with the Bible. I am reading it again with enthusiasm, expectation and wonder. It's not always like this for me and I've recently come out of an extended time of not engaging with it much at all.
I have found it interesting to ask myself what makes the difference between these two phases that often alternate in my life. Right now, I have returned to the fact that I need to be constantly giving myself over to God, dying to myself, and growing in my knowledge of the mind of God. For me, the Bible is the key source of inspiration for these things. I need to be engaging in Godly 'self-talk' - a process of continually denying worldly, humanist and selfish thinking and replacing it with God's truths and promises. The Bible is my chief weapon in this fight.
In the times when I am not engaged with the Bible, I am typically victim to the type of unhealthy 'self-talk' that renders my family and I victims of circumstance. I am living in my own strength, not God's. Actually, I am not pursuing God's presence in my daily affairs.
I've found that for me, Bible DIS-Engagement is a powerful indicator of spiritual poverty, lethargy and stagnation. Bible reading is an intensely spiritual undertaking.
What does the trend toward Bible DIS-Engagement within Western churches say about the spiritual health of the people of God?
I have found it interesting to ask myself what makes the difference between these two phases that often alternate in my life. Right now, I have returned to the fact that I need to be constantly giving myself over to God, dying to myself, and growing in my knowledge of the mind of God. For me, the Bible is the key source of inspiration for these things. I need to be engaging in Godly 'self-talk' - a process of continually denying worldly, humanist and selfish thinking and replacing it with God's truths and promises. The Bible is my chief weapon in this fight.
In the times when I am not engaged with the Bible, I am typically victim to the type of unhealthy 'self-talk' that renders my family and I victims of circumstance. I am living in my own strength, not God's. Actually, I am not pursuing God's presence in my daily affairs.
I've found that for me, Bible DIS-Engagement is a powerful indicator of spiritual poverty, lethargy and stagnation. Bible reading is an intensely spiritual undertaking.
What does the trend toward Bible DIS-Engagement within Western churches say about the spiritual health of the people of God?
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Authentic Relationships
In October I was privileged to be able to attend the inaugural National Youth Bible Engagement Forum held in Brisbane. The forum was attended by a dozen representatives of youth ministry agencies from across the nation including various state chapters of Scripture Union Australia and The Bible Society, several church denominational organisations, and various para-church groups. The one thing that these representatives held in common was a working interest in seeing young people become engaged with the Bible in powerful ways.
The agenda of the forum was to compare notes, analyse research, brainstorm issues, explore creative solutions and build productive partnerships to promote effective Bible engagement strategies in our ministries and across the nation. Three days of vigorous discussion left us all fully aware of the immense challenges involved in engaging youth with the Bible, but also hopeful about the possibilities before us.
There was a consensus amongst the forum delegates that much of the challenge of Bible engagement stems from two common misunderstandings that are often found amongst young people and the Christian workers who seek to reach out to them. Firstly, there is a real deficiency in people’s understanding of what the Bible actually is. The Bible is commonly viewed as a ‘self-help’ manual rather than God’s revelation of Himself and the grand narrative of salvation history. Reading the Bible from this distorted perspective sees young people referring to it purely as a source of quick life ‘solutions’ and therapeutic comfort, rather than a universal story in which they need to find their part. Secondly, the very message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is understood as an individually experienced state of spiritual salvation rather than the introduction of the radical and revolutionary Kingdom of God with all its countercultural ramifications. Reading the Bible from this perspective sees young people pursuing theological knowledge rather than personal and community transformation. Both distortions render the Bible a dull, boring and disengaging read.
The key to addressing these considerable challenges is to commit to a journey of discovery with young people as they seek God. The YBE Forum agreed wholeheartedly that the key space for effectively engaging young people with the Bible is in the context of long term authentic relationships. While new products, technologies and programmes will provide wonderful new tools to assist us in engaging young people with the Bible in transformational encounters with God, we need to be providing safe, open, creative, interactive, loving and sharing relationships in which young people can explore the Bible narrative and process its many exciting implications.
The agenda of the forum was to compare notes, analyse research, brainstorm issues, explore creative solutions and build productive partnerships to promote effective Bible engagement strategies in our ministries and across the nation. Three days of vigorous discussion left us all fully aware of the immense challenges involved in engaging youth with the Bible, but also hopeful about the possibilities before us.
There was a consensus amongst the forum delegates that much of the challenge of Bible engagement stems from two common misunderstandings that are often found amongst young people and the Christian workers who seek to reach out to them. Firstly, there is a real deficiency in people’s understanding of what the Bible actually is. The Bible is commonly viewed as a ‘self-help’ manual rather than God’s revelation of Himself and the grand narrative of salvation history. Reading the Bible from this distorted perspective sees young people referring to it purely as a source of quick life ‘solutions’ and therapeutic comfort, rather than a universal story in which they need to find their part. Secondly, the very message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is understood as an individually experienced state of spiritual salvation rather than the introduction of the radical and revolutionary Kingdom of God with all its countercultural ramifications. Reading the Bible from this perspective sees young people pursuing theological knowledge rather than personal and community transformation. Both distortions render the Bible a dull, boring and disengaging read.
The key to addressing these considerable challenges is to commit to a journey of discovery with young people as they seek God. The YBE Forum agreed wholeheartedly that the key space for effectively engaging young people with the Bible is in the context of long term authentic relationships. While new products, technologies and programmes will provide wonderful new tools to assist us in engaging young people with the Bible in transformational encounters with God, we need to be providing safe, open, creative, interactive, loving and sharing relationships in which young people can explore the Bible narrative and process its many exciting implications.
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