It is critical for church leadership to challenge believers to be in the Word of God, consistently growing in their knowledge of the Scriptures. One way to do that is to teach and encourage study of the Scriptures in the context of the grand narrative of redemption. I try to read the Bible in the way it unfolds. The Bible is not a series of isolated morality tales. Instead, by looking at it as a whole through a Christ-centered lens, I read the Scriptures with the whole story of redemption in mind….
Churches today face some big challenges. One of the greatest is the evangelical angst occurring in North America. Evangelicals in our country are just not sure of who they are or where they’re going.
Perhaps what evangelicals need most right now is a strategy for biblical literacy. We need to reengage the biblical narrative and immerse ourselves in consistent study. It will help us be more gracious and winsome in the way we communicate. It will help us have a clearer view on controversial issues. It will help us to understand and communicate a clear Gospel as laid out in the Scriptures — a Gospel of the cross and of the Kingdom. The Word of God is essential to where we are right now.
It might be indicative of the issue the article is about that there are no comments on it.
I think the article is spot on, and we need to start looking at ways in which people are trying to address the issue. Here’s two takes on the issue from the same ‘stable’, looking at Bible reading in the public service. One from an Aussie, and the other looking at how one church in the UK is attempting it:
http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/2011/03/devoted-to-the-public-reading-of-scripture/
http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/2011/11/the-big-read/
I think we have to return to being a people of the Book far more than we are at the moment. And one step towards that is that we have to start trying things and comparing notes.