‘ Great article on reading ! Read’ This Article May 13, 2013 by Matthew Bracey Just eight days prior to this article’s post date, my wife and I celebrated our one-year wedding anniversary. One of our favorite hobbies is reading, privately to ourselves and aloud to one-another. We simply love entering a story and dissecting its characters, plots, themes, and twists and turns. Yet should reading be more than a ‘hobby’? Is it somehow related to our discipleship as Christians? I submit that it is of the utmost importance, especially for Christians. Of course, there are obstacles: “I’m not a good reader,” “I’m not a fast reader,” “I don’t like reading,” “I find reading boring,” “I don’t know what to read,” “I’m too busy to read,” and “I get distracted too easily” are among the many examples. Even so, reading is an indispensable habit for Christian life. “Eat This Book” First and foremost, Christians should read because the Bible is a book. This is not some accident of history, but the way a sovereign God has orchestrated it. Furthermore, this Book is God’s inspired, inerrant word. Christianity then is fundamentally a word-based religion. Words are important, sticking around far longer than images, sound bites, and even people. In fact, God’s Word is forever—eternal. “Heaven and earth will pass away,” says Jesus, “but My words will not pass away” (Mt. 24:35). No doubt, God uses other mediums to speak to us (nature, people, and circumstances, for instance), but He communicates His special revelation through the written word. And it is important that we read these words. They should constantly occupy our thoughts and permeate our beings. Like Joshua, they shouldn’t depart from our mouths, but we should meditate upon them day and night (Jos. 1:8). In many ways, the Bible is to our souls what food is to our stomachs. In fact, Jesus, quoting Deuteronomy 8:3, says, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Mt. 4:4). A similar, rather provocative example occurs in the book of Revelation, where the Lord orders John to open his mouth, feed his stomach, and fill his body with the book that He would give him (Rev. 10:9-10)—similar examples occur in the books of Jeremiah (15:16) and Ezekiel (2:8-3:3). In fact, one author titled his book about Bible reading after this verse in Revelation: Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading. In reading this Book, we mustn’t approach it as any other old book. We mustn’t read it simply because it’s intellectually stimulating or imaginatively interesting. And we mustn’t read it simply because we feel like we’re supposed to. We should read it because we want to. Reading God’s Word is not an unwanted obligation. It’s a privilege—the greatest perhaps! We don’t nibble on it like school cafeteria mystery meat. We feast on it like a well-prepared banquet, relishing and savoring every bite. Like John, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, we eat it. Or as Paul advises Timothy, we should be “constantly nourished on the words of the faith” (1 Tim. 4:6, emphasis mine). By consuming Scripture in this fashion, it may taste bitter at first, given our often-unhealthy diet of worldly pleasures. Scripture offers many pointed analogies to this point. As a furnace refines metals and a sword pierces flesh, so God uses His Word to burn away our impurities (Isa. 48:10; Zech. 13:9; 1 Pet. 1:7) and to surgically cut away our spiritual cancer (Heb. 4:12). Despite this bitter, painful, uncomfortable process, however, we will find that God’s Word is more desirable than gold, sweeter than honey (Ps. 19:10), and a lamp unto our feet (Ps. 119:105). As a mirror reflects its image, so Scripture reflects our true natures, pushing us toward that perfect image of Christ (cf. 2 Cor. 3:18; Jas. 1:23-25). Yet for this to occur, we must read it. “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy,” writes John (Rev. 1:3). Although he is referring specifically to Revelation, the same principle applies to all of Scripture: Blessed are those who read its words. Numerous creeds, confessions, and statements of faith have captured similar sentiments [1]. Again, we find these mind-correcting, stomach-feeding, body-filling, life-giving, more-desirable-than-gold, sweeter-than-honey, lamp-unto-our-feet words in Scripture. It is therefore important to read them—everywhere and all the time. May we sing with Isaac Watts “Praise to God for Learning to Read”: - The praises of my tongue / I offer to the Lord / That I was taught, and learnt so young / To read His holy word. - Here I can read and learn / How Christ, the Son of God / Did undertake our great concern / Our ransom cost His blood. - Then shall I praise the Lord / In a more cheerful strain / That I was taught to read His word / And have not learnt in vain. Yet we shouldn’t stop with Scripture. “Read Everything!” Most of us, without thinking it seems, can rattle off random sports statistics or useless entertainment trivia—this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But how many of us can recall our favorite authors or characters? Regretfully few. As Rebecca Deel puts it, “People of the Word must be people of words” [2]. But what to read—that’s the question? In the words of Carol Reid, “Read everything!” [3] Everything includes Scripture, theology books, devotional books, hymnbooks, history books, classic novels, pamphlets, famous plays, modern fictions, educational books, books about hobbies, newspapers, magazines, and much more. Admittedly though, everything can be a bit overwhelming. The world of reading can be a scary place to enter in part because it is so vast. But like the child initially reluctant about jumping into the water, but soon discovering an entire pool to explore, so should we enter the sanctifying world of books! Clearly, the most important book we read is the Book. Beyond this, I recommend beginning with books by, about, and for the Church. In many ways, this is the gateway to the great Christian tradition. Neil Postman once said, “A book is an attempt…to contribute to the great conversation conducted by authors of the past” [4]. For Christians this takes on special meaning, for the Church is that universal body of believers extending through history. Just as earthly families make efforts to know one another, so should spiritual families. Perhaps the best way to do this is by reading books. When we read books by and about our spiritual mothers, brothers, and sisters of decades and centuries past, we better appreciate our family tree. Such books might include church history books, devotional books, theology books, fiction books, and more. What is more, we learn from them, as this great cloud of witnesses (cf. Heb. 12:1-2) speaks to us through their lives and books. As John Milton puts it, “A good book is the precious lifeblood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life” [5]. This rings especially true for believers, whose names are written in the Book of Life (cf. Rev. 20:11-15). Specific “where to begin” lists abound online. Here are a few: - The Huffington Post’s “Spiritual Classics: 25 Books Every Christian Should Read” - Christianity Today’s “The Top 50 Books That Have Shaped Evangelicals” - Christianity Today’s “Books of the Century” C. S. Lewis once remarked, “Have you noticed how God so often sends us books at just the right time?” [6] Words have great power, and God often speaks through them. The more we read, the more likely we’ll discover God speaking to us through this medium. Yet even books that are not specifically by, about, and for the Church, or even by Christians for that matter, still often have value. Much can and has been said on this point, but suffice it to say for now, whatever we read should past the muster of Philippians 4:8. That is, the books we read should be true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent, and praiseworthy. Again, specific “where to begin” lists abound online: - The Guardian’s “The 100 Greatest Novels of All Time” - Modern Library’s “100 Best Novels” - Good Read’s “100 Best Books of All Time: The World Library List” While some may disagree with certain selections, from this and the prior list, they’re a good place to begin if nothing else. “Read Until Your Brain Creaks” Excuses for not reading abound. However, it is something we should do. If there is any one book we should read, it is most certainly the Book. But our reading shouldn’t stop there. In an effort to better know our spiritual family from centuries past, we may also read books by and about them. Wherever we start though, we should start somewhere. Jump in! Read something. Fall in love with it. And as Doug Wilson puts it, “Read until your brain creaks” [7].
Posted on: Sun, 16 Jun 2013 04:07:55 +0000
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