Bible Reading vs. Bible Study

Here at The Next Generation we promote 6 disciplines of faith.  The most important of these disciplines is Bible Reading because we are informed from our knowledge of the Word of God who Jesus is and what He has done for us, as well as, how to properly exercise the other disciplines of our faith.  Sadly, it is also the most neglected of the spiritual disciplines among believers.

Part of the problem comes in our interpretation of what Bible Reading actually is.  When it comes to Bible Reading itself, many parents and individuals hear "Bible Study" instead.  We have been trained in our churches to see reading the Bible as too complex just to sit down and read the text in context.  (A claim I hear from adults and youth alike.)  After all, in order to read a book of the Bible at church we are in need of a year long expository sermon series in one of the gospels while we meticulously roll through the text, verse by verse, to grab every seemingly hidden nugget of wisdom unavailable to the reader at first glance.  (A 26 week Sunday School class or small group study, gives the same effect.)

Because of this, when we speak of Bible Reading, some parents believe that they are now burdened to become Bible scholars in order to lead their children on a daily or weekly basis.  They go to a Christian book store to purchase a good study Bible, get their highlighting pens, notebooks and maybe even a commentary or book on the Bible passage they are studying as a family together.  They try to set aside time on a consistent basis to read a portion of the Scripture (usually a chapter) and create questions, like a small group leader, to generate conversation.  The success of the time is then judged by the level of participation the family had with the study that was created rather than a furtherance of the knowledge of the Biblical text.

This isn't to disparage parents with a desire to want to lead their children or those who see the value of diving deeper through the tools mentioned above.  It is to say that interpreting Bible Reading in that way misses the point.  The goal of Bible Reading is to give our children (and ourselves) familiarity with the actual text of the Bible, the living Word of God (Hebrews 4:12-13) that lead to the conversations about God throughout the day (Deut. 6:4-9).  

Having a devotion time that turns into a Bible class can be exhausting for both the children and the parents.  Parents who feel the need for this excessive preparation rather than just reading and familiarizing themselves with the text ahead of time, can feel that they do not have enough time to do a "good" devotional time with their children on a daily basis.  Or they may think that the reading plans included in our blueprints are too much to cover on a daily or weekly basis and therefore amend them to move their children through at a slower, more manageable pace.

As a result, we spend 5 minutes reading a chapter of the Bible and 10 or 25 minutes forcing a discussion of what we just read.  This doesn't bring our children familiarity to the text of the Word of God, but rather reinforces the idea that in order to study the Word of God well, we must prepare a formal study lead by a competent adult or leader.  It has the potential to produce a dependence in our children on the family devotion time being led by the parents rather than an understanding that reading the Word of God is something they can do on their own.  (It is the same complaint that I have with printed devotionals.) 

Think about your children's favorite book series (including comic books).  Whether it is Star Wars, Nancy Drew, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Junie B. Jones, their favorite superhero, Amber Brown, Curious George, etc..., I am sure that you have had conversations about the books that they have read.  

My son's favorite thing to do when growing up was talking about which superhero could defeat another superhero.  We would go into great detail why the hero he picked was weaker than mine (I always chose the Barry Allen Flash).  These were fun debates that both of us enjoyed.  How did my son get such knowledge of all the superheroes and their powers?  He simply read the comics and watched the shows they were based on.  How did he find out more about the things that the Flash could do to defeat his chosen superhero of the day?  He was introduced to a new power that I knew about because of my knowledge of comic book lore.  After our conversation, I would show him the comic that had this new power.  Giving him something else to think about to counter my amazing superhero's powers, in the vain effort to defeat him the next time we tackled this exercise.

These were unrehearsed conversations based on something we had both become familiar with through the exposure to the material.  There was no study, yet I would say that we actually knew more about these superheroes precisely because there was no formal study.  We spent our time actually becoming knowledgeable about the material itself that led to these impromptu conversations.

The same happens when we treat Bible Reading in a like manner.  When we use our devotion time to primarily interact with the Word of God, rather than our Bible study, we open the door to further impromptu Biblical conversations that can happen anytime of the day.  We also accomplish much more than we ever could with a formal study.  Imagine what reading the Word of God for 15 or 30 minutes will actually do for their real Biblical knowledge!  Think about the questions and conversations this amount of material will generate, as they are confronted on a daily basis the claims of Jesus, what it means to believe, what the consequences of unbelief are, how a Christian should act, what baptism really is, etc...  

But in order to do that, they must be allowed to interact with the Word of God itself, in context.  This is why we believe it is much better to lead a devotion having the children who are old enough to read, read the material for themselves, at an age appropriate level (this is why, in our blueprints younger children are given less to read than older children and youth).  Our goal is Biblical literacy that leads to conversations throughout the day, not a well meaning Bible study that actually may upend the goal of Biblical literacy.  I have found that most of my meaningful conversations with my children about faith in Christ happen outside our devotion time, while we are driving someplace or walking the mall or sitting down an having a meal or playing a game together.  And isn't that our goal?  To have our children easily talk about their faith in any setting without hesitation.  

So READ the Bible as a family.  Ask two questions afterward:  What stood out to you?  Was there anything that you didn't understand?  And then leave the conversation open for your children to continue anytime.  I believe that you will find this more fulfilling than any Bible study could ever be and it might even lead to some Bible studies that your children want to do.

If you don't have a blueprint for your child/youth, you can order a free one here.