By Barry Howard

For the past three years, I have been privileged to participate in a Pastor-Scholars Studio, in partnership with Duke University and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, and funded by The Lily Endowment.  As a part of the Studio, I have been engaged in a project group consisting of Dr. Mark Biddle, professor at Baptist Seminary of Richmond; Rev. Amy Butler, pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.; Dr. Gary Furr, pastor at Vestavia Hills Baptist Church in Birmingham, and Dr. David May, professor at Central Baptist Seminary in Kansas City.  Our project was to explore the impact of “The Bible and Your Life,” and our primary instrument was conducting a survey of like-minded Baptists regarding the importance of the Bible in their faith and practice.

Our project team retained respected sociologist, Dr. Penny Marler, of Samford University to facilitate the administration and analysis of the survey.  After our results were compiled, I asked Dr. Marler, a devoted Christian, a few questions about her analysis of the responses:

Barry:  What one thing about the survey surprised you the most?

Dr. Marler: That personal Bible reading was so strongly related to the importance of and knowledge about the Bible—even more so than reading the Bible in church or with one’s family.  Whether lay CBF respondents were older or younger, male or female, better or less well-educated didn’t matter at all:  the Bible’s importance in one’s life was predicted by how often someone read the Bible alone.

Barry:  If you were a pastor, what did the survey indicate you should be emphasizing to your congregation?

Dr. Marler: First, I think that all laity should have a personal Bible.  Parents should make age-appropriate Bibles available to their children.  They should not only read the Bible to/with them but they should also make intentional space/time/creative instruction available so that children and youth can explore the Scriptures on their own.  Adults should model personal Bible reading.  Similarly, adults should be encouraged/challenged/affirmed in personal Bible reading: as Sunday School or Bible Study homework, as a part of devotional practice, and even for pleasure.

 

Barry: Why do you think that personal Bible reading is such a crucial influence on individual lifestyle? 
Dr. Marler:  In a world that presents us with many options and distractions, what we choose to spend our time doing says a great deal about what is important to us and the more we engage in a particular behavior, the more important it becomes.  It’s really an affirmation of Reformation Christianity: the centrality of the Scripture and the priesthood of all believers.  It is also, strikingly, resonant with what is known about the way that human faith develops and grows.  The Scriptures provide images and stories that resonate with the struggles of persons to make meaning in their lives.  There are stories about love, betrayal, commitment, suffering, faithfulness, sacrifice and fulfillment—and, of course, in these stories we are not alone because the Bible is the story of God’s engagement with us.  Immersion in those images and stories makes them more natural back- and fore-grounds for making sense of our lives. 

The responses to our survey emphatically indicate a direct correspondence between regular private Bible reading and faith application.   Our conclusion seems almost over simplistic:  Reading the Bible privately as a regular practice equips an individual to become a stronger, faithful, and more effective follower of Jesus.