When an entire church studies the same subject together, everyone gets on the same page. Momentum is multiplied. Talk is targeted. As we share what we’re experiencing, the learning goes deeper.
2. Teach people about the Bible.
For pastors and veteran church leaders, it’s easy to assume everyone knows the basics of the Bible: who wrote it, where it came from, what it’s about, etc. Barna’s study tells us one of the top reasons people don’t read it is because they don’t know its background.
Elementary-age students are taught that the first thing they do with a book is look through its table of contents. Getting the big picture is like formatting your mental disc for further learning. Preachers can get so caught up in teaching the Bible that we forget to introduce the Bible. What if we spent one campaign season introducing the Bible basics?
3. Teach people to study the Bible.
From time to time I meet people who read the Bible through once, and then stop. No one taught them to study, so they didn’t know how to go any farther. What if we spent some time coaching on Bible study basics?
4. Give people a chance to spur each other on.
What drove the Bible Reading Revolution of the Wesleys’ day was the power of a small group. John and Charles rounded people up and put them in circles. Those circles sparked flames that lit England on fire. I’m never more excited about the Bible than when I’m hearing from a friend what they have been learning from the Bible. I believe that for Bible reading to become a permanent habit, it has to be coupled with the heat and contagion of a group that meets together—in a home, a restaurant or a Sunday school class.
5. Join forces with other churches.
The day has passed when a church can wall itself off from those outside its denomination. Communication is too fast and frequent to think my church members aren’t talking to your church members. If a small group can spark a flame, a whole church ought to be able to build a brushfire. And if churches were to partner together in getting on a Bible Reading Campaign, well, that might just make for a wildfire.
Last week I invited 50 of my closest pastor friends to join New Song in a Bible Reading Campaign. So far, five of them have accepted. I feel a fire building, and I’d like to invite you to add your fuel to it. Because more than anything, what every church and every city in this country needs is a Bible Reading Revolution.
