Jeremy Hoover

 
 
This is set of 4 bookmarks I'm handing out on Sunday as part of my sermon. Follow the link to find out more about the sermon, How to Find and Live God's Will.

To use the bookmark, download it and print it on cardstock. Then, use a paper trimmer to cut the sheet into 4 separate bookmarks.
 
 
How do you read the bible?

Ron Martoia, in his new book, The Bible as Improv, points out (accurately) that all bible reading is interpretation. To understand is to interpret. Otherwise, we bog down in details about what is timeless and what is cultural. In other words, what can we ignore and what are we obligated to do.

Here's an example: In 1 Timothy 2:8-15 Paul says both that women are to be silent in worship (women are not permitted to teach and/or assume authority over a man) and that women are not to have elaborate hairstyles and wear "gold or pearls or expensive clothes." In conservative churches, we uphold the former teaching as essential and required but not the latter teaching. I personally know of no church that bars their women from doing their hair however they'd like and wearing gold or pearl jewelry. I also personally know several churches that prevent their women from teaching men.

How do we hold these things together? How do we look at one passage, and in that passage find things that are universal and timeless on one hand, but on the other hand, find things that are cultural and time-bound? This way of reading seems very arbitrary and open to abuse of interpretation by the one reading.

Martoia proposes a different way--that of seeing the bible as a classic. He argues that, while the bible may be or is much more than a classic, it is at least a classic in that it forms and shapes our worldview according to the spiritual categories represented in it. We ought to read it as we read other classics of literature (Shakespeare, Homer, etc.) by reading entire books in one sitting, or by reading larger sequential chunks. Reading the bible verse-by-verse, in a piecemeal way, is not how it was intended to be read.

Martoia, building off the work of N.T. Wright, proposes that we see the bible as a script. This script is made of up of five acts of which we are missing the fifth (because the work of the church is the fifth act). The first four acts are 1) creation; 2) the fall; 3) the life and ministry of Israel; and 4) the life and ministry of Jesus. The fifth act, from which we take our cue, is missing. But we have clues about how it will end (Romans 8; 1 Corinthians 15) and how we are to "fill in the gaps" (the New Testament). It is up to us, as "actors," to understand the first four acts so we can live out the fifth act and complete the script.

Since we don't have the script in front of us, we cooperate with the Spirit to improv our way forward, much like jazz musicians improv during their play. We improv based on the themes and tones we pick up from the other four acts. As we read the bible in large chunks (and read books sequentially and straight through), we begin to understand the themes and tones and how they play out through the script-ure. We read the bible for this larger story, God's story, and discover the importance of the smaller details in this larger context.

Martoia offers some ways churches and groups might approach bible reading as an improvisation of the first four acts of a five-act script:
  • Read a large portion of scripture (say, 9 chapters) and discuss both the themes that arise from this section and how those themes connect to previous themes from earlier readings. Which act of the script are you in and how does this act connect with earlier and later acts?
  • Articulate answers to questions about plot, story-lines, characters, and the actions of key characters.
  • Teachers should act as master story connectors who understand the sweep of the biblical story, facilitate conversation around that story, and help people connect their stories to God's story and imagine the future of their stories.
This is a really good book about bible reading and interpretation. Martoia popularizes the work of N.T. Wright, Walter Brueggemann, and James Fowler to discuss how to read the bible for spiritual growth and for faithfulness to God's story. It is very readable and even contains a study guide for groups to work through as they read it. Highly recommended.
 
 
Sometimes, we struggle with reading God's word. But to get the most from it, we must first see it as something valuable, humbly seek God through it, and obey him through action learned from our reading.

At the end of this lesson, I present 4 simple steps by which we can begin growing spiritually as we read God's word.

Sermon: How to Grow Spiritually with God's Word
 
 
Sometimes, we struggle with reading God's word. But to get the most from it, we must first see it as something valuable, humbly seek God through it, and obey him through action learned from our reading.

At the end of the lesson, I present 4 simple steps by which we can begin growing spiritually as we read God's word.

Sermon Outline

Sermon Outline

 
 
Improper bible reading gives up on the bible too easily, focuses too much on acquiring knowledge, and promotes pride. Proper bible reading, on the other hand, transforms you: it leads to worship, good works, and stronger faith. Be transformed by reading the bible, making a plan to minister, and taking action.
 
 
Below is a short outline of my sermon for Sunday. I tackle the difference between improper and proper bible reading and what that means for our transformation. Any feedback? Is anything unclear? What would you like me to expand?
True bible reading is transformative and teaches us how to do God's will.

Introduction.
  • Compare a bible to a novel in number of pages, size, time to read, etc. Why do we read one [the novel] over the other [bible]?
Transition: Reading the bible, when we get to it, is challenging. These challenges can lead to several ways we improperly read it.

Improper bible reading will not transform you.
  • Improper bible reading gives up too easily [challenge of sticking to a bible reading plan].
  • IBR focuses too much on acquiring knowledge [all answers, no action].
  • IBR promotes pride [looking down on others because you know more or attend more].
Transition: We learn about transformative, proper bible study in Neh. 8:1-10.

Proper bible reading transforms you.
  • leads to worship (6).
  • leads to good works (10).
  • leads to stronger faith (10) [also include Romans 12:1-2].
Transition: So if we know what happens when we read the bible reading properly, how do get there? How can the bible transform us?

The Best Bible Reading Plan Ever.
  • Read (not study) the bible [explicate the difference].
  • Meditate and make a plan ["world's best bible reading plan"].
  • Take action [do something].
Application step: Read the bible, make a plan, and take action.
 
 
Download a PDF of these study notes here.
Nehemiah 8:1-10 (Introduction)
Good bible reading goes beyond merely acquiring information. To read the bible properly, we need to do so transformatively, seeking application that leads us to action.

In Nehemiah 8:1-10, Ezra the priest called the Israelites together for worship. This worship was quite unlike anything we'd expect today. Rather than singing praise songs for an hour or listening to a 30 minute sermon, the Israelites heard Ezra read from the law for hours at a time. And they "listened attentively to the Book of the Law" (8:3).

The immediate result of listening to the law being read was worship (8:6). The people understood from the law that God was holy and they needed to be his servants. But they became self-absorbed with their worship. Perhaps they began to feel that they had accomplished a lot simply by worshiping God. Perhaps they dwelt too long on their sins.

Nehemiah noticed that the people did not properly understand the purpose of the bible study they were involved with. He reminded them that bible reading and study was not to result in prolonged introspection and weeping. Proper bible reading is to be transformative--it needs to result in action.

This is why Nehemiah commanded the people to stop mourning and weeping (8:9). They were not wrong to feel this way. But these feelings were not the goal of the bible study--action was. So he told them to stop mourning and weeping (8:9).

Instead, they were to feed themselves...and others. They were to "send [food] to those who have nothing prepared" (8:10). This is what all good, proper, transformative bible study does--it provokes us to action.

The Dangers of Bible Study
There are some dangers in bible study, however. The first danger is to simply stop reading. Bible study and reading can be difficult. We do well to read the bible, but because the bible is a large book that contains many different genres, we can become unsure how or what to read. The temptation is to stop. We need to overcome this temptation by pressing on, reading, learning, and doing.

The second danger of bible study is to focus on knowledge for its own sake. When we read the bible, we become excited about what we're learning. But we go wrong when our excitement flows over into merely acquiring knowledge. Our spiritual growth isn't about how much we know, but about how much we are being changed--by God, through his word.

The third danger of bible study is to become prideful because of the knowledge we are gaining. This is different from the second danger because that danger focused only on knowledge acquisition. This danger is worse, because it causes us to look down on others who don't know as much as we do. We should never compare ourselves to others based on bible knowledge or how many bible studies we attend.

The Purpose of Bible Study
In contrast to these, proper bible study leads us to worship God. As we learn about the bible, we learn about God--who he is, what he's done, and what he's going to do. We learn about his plan of salvation. We learn about Jesus, and how we are to live like him. This leads us to worship, to be in awe of God.

Proper bible study should also lead us to good works. Just as Nehemiah encouraged the Israelites to ministry, we need to learn from our bible reading to be involved in ministry. This is merely an extension of Jesus' ministry, so as we learn about him, we learn what we need to do--serve and love others in his name.

Finally, proper bible study strengthens our faith in God. The motivation given to the Israelites for overcoming themselves and serving others is to allow the joy they have in God to be their strength. Bible reading should promote strong and growing faith in God. And as your faith increases, your joy does as well!

As Paul reminds in Romans 12:1-2, God desires for us to serve him. He transforms us as we allow him to. As we read the bible and seek to apply it, God teaches us how to serve him better. Proper bible study leads us to worship God, to good works, and to stronger faith in him.

 
 

One way of understanding Gideon's story in Judges 6-8 is through a cycle.

There is a pattern throughout the book of Judges that indicates the Israelites moved through a cycle of committing evil, being turned over to a foreign nation by God, as punishment for their evil, being oppressed and crying out because of the oppression, being rescued by God through a deliverer (a judge), being at peace while the deliverer was living, and finally reverting back to evil after the deliverer dies, thereby starting the cycle all over again.

Gideon exists within this cycle and is a deliverer raised up by God. (We may, of course, question whether he was a good deliverer or not.)

His story also takes place in the context of a cycle. Gideon is called by God (6:1-12) but tests God because he is fearful (6:13-24). He then serves God (because God "passed" the test; 6:25-32) but falls back into fear and tests God again (6:33-40). He overcomes his fear (7:1-15), serves God and receives victory (7:15-25) but falls back into sin because of his arrogance and self-sufficient ways (ch. 8).

He bounced back-and-forth between serving God and serving himself.

These two cycles in Judges indicate to us that we, too, can become trapped in a vicious cycle, going back-and-forth between serving God and serving ourselves. We need to watch ourselves and avoid temptation.

In Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus overcame temptation and served by God by maintaining his focus on God and worshiping him, referring to teaching from Deuteronomy to bolster his faith. We, too, should keep our spiritual eyes on Jesus and his teaching in the bible to keep strong in our faith to overcome the cycles of sin and faith in our lives.

What cycles do you identify in your life?

 
 

I've been thinking a lot the last couple weeks about the forms of Christianity that we teach in the church. Perhaps I've given something away even in my description because if the emphasis in "church" is on "teaching" then the form we use primarily is information transmission. This doesn't mean we don't connect with people and other things aren't done; just that we view the primary reason for gathering is to transmit information about the bible.

The idea is, if you know more about the bible, you should be a better Christian. But the result is often very different from this.

I've been thinking through these ideas with others on Facebook and Twitter. Why is it that we seem to treat our Christianity as a checklist rather than a relationship--with Christ and others? Why do we view our relationship with God not as a true relationship but as a list of things we must do or a set of requirements we need to fulfill?

Why do we wait for others to take the initiative? Why don't we really connect with each other away from the church building?

Jesus said, "I did not come to be served, but to serve" (Matt. 20:28). We are called to be followers of Jesus. A follower, well, follows! So we should be doing the same things Jesus did.

If Jesus did not seek to be served BY others, why do many of us? Why do we criticize the minister or someone else for not visiting us when we never bothered to pick up the phone or make an appointment to spend time with someone else?

Jesus served others. He added value to the lives of others. The best question we can ask ourselves is not how we can fill a building with people, or how we can get others to do what we want them to do, or how we can make sure the minister "does his job."

The best question we can ask ourselves, to be a true follower of Jesus, is:

Who can I love right now? And how?

That's what it means to follow Jesus.