In his article, "The Problem of Evangelical Biblical Illiteracy" David R. Nienhuis expresses his concern regarding Biblical illiteracy among those who claim to hold the Bible in high regard. In his opinion, knowing a few isolated Bible verses or being able to answer trivia questions should not be the goal of Christian education. He writes:
Knowing that Jesus was born in Bethlehem will not in and of itself empower them to speak the language of faith. Satan's use of Scripture in tempting Jesus is clear indication that a merely cognitive level of biblical literacy does not automatically result in the formation of a Christian character. To make a real difference in people's lives, biblical literacy programs will have to do more than simply encourage believers to memorize a select set of Bible verses. They will have to teach people to speak the language of faith...Biblical literacy programs need to do more than produce informed quoters. They need to produce transformed readers.
I believe that Nienhuis is correct. While I believe that Bible memorization is a good part of educating believers, it does not exhaust the task. Here are a couple of suggestions for helping people become transformed readers of Scripture.
- Teach the Bible as a Story - From beginning to end, the Bible tells one grand story. The plot-line of the Bible moves from Creation to Fall to Redemption to Consummation. We must relate the many stories found within Scripture to the one, unified Story. In other words, we must not treat the Bible as a collection of unrelated stories; every story is part of the drama of redemption. (Recommended Resource: The Jesus Storybook Bible)
- Ask the "So What?" Question - The goal of reading Scripture is not simply to make us more informed or knowledgeable. Facts are good, but they are not enough--even the demons believe certain facts about God (James 2:19). The things that we learn in the Bible regarding God, ourselves, and the world should lead us to action. For example, the proper response of the one who learns of his or her sinful condition and of Jesus' death and resurrection, is faith and repentance. Every time we read Scripture we should ask the "So what?" question -- "So, what should my response be to what God has revealed to me in His Word?"
I've been busy over the last few days with Learn.Love.Laugh. (or L3 for short). This is a four-day event where our youth learn from God's Word, love those within our community, and laugh with one another as we enjoy life together. We've had a great time so far. The youth will all be arriving in a few hours, and I've got a lot of crazy games ready for them. Tomorrow, we'll be at Six Flags White Water in Atlanta. I'm excited!
Yesterday, Amy and I took the youth group to a water park in Simpsonville. While I was waiting in line for a ride, a younger boy started a conversation with me. He asked me where I lived, if I had riden the ride before, and other general questions. While we were talking, Amy was on the ride, so I yelled out, "Good job, baby!" The boy then asked, "Is that your girlfriend?" After I told him that Amy was my wife, a puzzled look came over his face. Then, he asked, "Are you really married?" It took a while, but I finally convinced him that Amy was my wife (of 6 years) and that I had three children. If the youth hadn't backed up my story, I'm not sure that the boy would have believed me.
Tonight, before Bible study began at our house, all the youth guys decided to tackle me since I was holding a ball. Of course, this turned into an all-out battle in which I was not going to let go of the ball. In the midst of this struggle, Alora began screaming, "Don't you hurt my dad!" After Amy assured her that I was okay, she seemed to settle down.It's certainly been a while since I've been able to "rough it up" with a bunch of guys, so I had forgotten how much fun it could be. When my girls want to play with me, it usually involves dolls, hair, stuff animals and other girly games. Of course, I love doing those type of activities with my girls, but it was a nice change of pace to lay the smack down on some youth guys!
Alex and Brett Harris want other teenagers join the REBELution and rebel with them. Yet, they aren't talking about the type of rebellion that is often exibited among teenagers. No, they want teenagers to rebel "against the low expectations of an ungodly culture." Find out more by going here. Also, be sure to check out the resource list.
I recently started a blog for our youth ministry at Redeemer, so check it out from time to time in order to keep up with our current happenings: www.RedeemerYouth.wordpress.com
Well, I've finally posted some photos from the summer youth trip. We made our way from SC to NC to TN to KY to OH and back again. We spent most of our time at Big Bone Lick State Park and the Creation Museum. We had an awesome time, so take a few moments to see a few pictures from our trip.
Amy and I return from the youth trip last night. We camped at a place called Big Bone Lick State Park in Union, Kentucky. We had an awesome time, and I'll post pictures and more details about our trip when I have a little more time.
