Recently I had a conversation with a very impressive woman and as she was sharing, she mentioned that she is in a Bible study with some friends. “Right now”, she said, “we are studying John Piper”. I had such a mixed reaction to her statement. First off, I was impressed that she was reading a book by John Piper, an amazing pastor and theologian who lives up in Minnesota. Yet, my other reaction was to think ‘when did Piper get added to the Bible?’ We Christians have this odd thing of doing what we call a Bible study and really we don’t study the Bible. We read books about scripture, theology, the Christian life, etc and call it a Bible study. Frankly it grates on me! Every Friday I go to Starbucks at 7am because Lauren is part of a group of girls from her school that meet up there. For a while she referred to it as “Bible study” because that is what she was invited to participate in. However, after a few conversations in the forty minute ride to get there, we no longer call it that because… well… it isn’t. They read a (good) book and discuss it. So Friday mornings, she goes to her book study and when they decide to actually study the Bible, it can legitimately be called that.
Some folks I know are involved in small group Bible studies that often don’t actually get around to studying the Bible together because they devote most of their time to “doing life together” meaning that they share their struggles, confess sin, encourage and pray for one another, etc and if they get around to doing more than reading the Bible, then great. I am not opposed to ‘life groups’ or small groups that are all about sharing, but let’s not deceive ourselves and call it Bible study unless we are actually going to study His word. In my mind, a good Bible study always includes sharing, encouraging, praying, etc for one another. Otherwise we are not rooting what we learn in real life stuff.
Anyone agree?
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14 comments:
I definately agree!
i agree, but i think to have a successful bible study you need that element of people sharing lives and encouraging one another
James,
your use of the word "but" is irrelevant here. The commentary stated clearly that a good Bible study will include sharing, encouraging, prayer, etc. Glad that you agree and remember on this one, you need no "but".
yeah man! i agree. A little defensive, are we dave??? just kidding! go colts!!!!
-drew
Drew,
Defense is the great strength of my favorite NFL team - the Chicago Bears!
i agree...there's definitely a place for book studies and "life groups" like you said, but a Bible study MUST involve reading and studying the Bible...otherwise, it needs another name.
good stuff, dave. definitely agree!
I completely agree!
in my personal experience, a bible study must have the bible element but it can be so much more. It can be about building people up by reading what it means to be in a community and it is just fun to have people your age that are growing in the bible with you. I would also like to point out that some people are using this blog (dave, james, drew) as something other than comments on the blog. maybe we should be a little nicer and not talk about out favorite teams. that creates discord not harmony.
M.E.
Good comment. Is it divisive to talk about favorite teams? Or do I need to just grow up? I probably do but I am putting that off for another day. You knew that already though. It would have been nice if my favorite team had actually played well in the Superbowl but that is a tangent.
good blog, i totally agree with this
sounds pretty good...
haha you just called me out on my "book study"
Well...i find this "bible studies need to study the bible" rather relavent (SP?), and very true. The bible is the word of God and that is RATHER important. there were groups of people mentioned on oprah who met weekly and talked, just like bible studies do, but to talk about finances instead. now i understand that balancing finances is important, but it sounded a little like worshiping money and a lot like bible study minus the prayer and the bible. (i think that shows how key having the bible and prayer are for groups of people to really grow together in a Christ-like community, otherwise we could easily begin worshiping something else by accident)
dido
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