As we think about studying scripture together, I want to point out an interesting episode in the early church that occurs during one of Paul’s mission trips. In Acts 17:10-12, we learn that, “As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.”
We should not read this passage as people who went to a worship service in a building, heard Paul’s monologue sermon, then went home by themselves, opened their individual copies of the Bible and researched to see if what Paul said was true.
They did not have individual copies of the Scriptures. Instead, Paul would have preached, and the people, including Paul would have stayed there in the synagogue to discuss the Scriptures together to see if what Paul said was true. They studied scripture together.
Now look ahead to Acts chapter 19. Paul is in the city of Ephesus. In verses 8-10, we learn,
“Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.”
What are we seeing? The early church studied the Scriptures together. They discussed Scripture together. This is why I encourage you, if you are not already participating in some expression of studying the word together, to start.
When we participate in studying the Bible together, there are so many benefits. First, we deepen relationships in the church. We get to know one another better.
Second, we benefit from other people and they benefit from us. This is why I find my church’s sermon discussion class is almost always better than the sermon itself. There are numerous times when I’m sitting around the tables listening to people discuss the passage from the sermon, and I get embarrassed.
I get embarrassed because they are making a point, or observing something in Scripture that I didn’t think of. I sit there as they talk thinking to myself, “How did I not see that? That is so obvious. So good. So important. My sermon would have been better if I had noticed that!!!”
That is the beauty of studying Scripture together. More points of view, more people who have a variety of personalities and experiences who bring the entirety of their lives to the text, and through whom we can learn. We might never have seen the text of the Bible like they did because we didn’t have their experiences.
This is why it is so vital that we interact with people from other cultures, who speak other languages, have other ethnicities than we do, have other life experiences. This is why we study the Bible with them. This is why we study the Bible with people who are older and who are younger.
We can also intentionally study the Bible with others by reading books about the Bible written by people who are different from us. For most of Christian history, books about the Bible, books commenting on the Bible, study Bibles, devotional books, etc, were written by white males from western Europe or America. They wrote lots of good material.
But to study the Bible together, we should read books about the Bible written by persons of color, by people from eastern nations, by women. We Protestant evangelicals, we should read books written by Catholics and Orthodox and Pentecostals. In so doing, we are trying to answer the question: “What do others who grew up very differently from me, who worship differently from me, who think differently from me, and yet still love Jesus, have to say about the Bible?”
Most of all, I believe, we should gather with others, and that could be online or in-person, and study the Bible together. What gatherings are available in your church family? What classes, small groups, Bible studies are available? If you do not already, would you consider participating in a group like that?
Maybe you want to connect with a smaller group, two or three others and study through a book of the Bible together.
Let me remind you of the principles we started with in the first post in the series. When I mentioned them originally, I noted how these principles are often used for individual, personal Bible study. I believe individual, personal Bible study is a good thing. But now that we have looked at how important it is to study scripture together with others, I ask you to think about how the same principles can be applied to studying the Bible with others. Flowing from a humble, teachable mindset:
Pray together for God’s Spirit to help your group understand what you read and study in the Bible.
Read the Bible out loud together with a meditative heart, thinking deeply about what you’re reading.
Write down questions that come to mind as you read and study, then together look for ways to answer those questions. Discuss together. Maybe people in the group will have thoughts. Maybe consult with others to search for answers.
Talk together about principles, takeaways that your group learned from your study and that you can apply to your lives.
Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash
Engaging Scripture 