A Short Rant on Bible Reading

Lately it seems I'm seeing a lot (tweets, articles, etc.) about Bible reading and biblical literacy. I haven't added to the conversation because I am a theological nobody, a lurker on various blogs who is relatively new to Twitter and has few followers. On top of that, I'm a relatively new Christian, though not new to Christianity. But I've been a little surprised at how many Christians are saying they rarely read the Bible, or that they read it in phases (every day for a month, then a few months of not opening it). And many have read only bits and pieces. I would expect this from someone who isn't a Christian, but these are Christians saying this.

I honestly don't get this. Maybe I will once I have more years of being a Christian behind me. But I can't get enough of the Bible. It's all I want to read. I get up at 5:00 every morning, sometimes earlier, so I can read the Bible. I gave my life to Jesus last October and immediately began reading through the Bible using one of those "read in a year" programs. I finished in mid-June. After that, I started a chronological study using The Bible Recap with a friend in Austin. It's making me crazy not to read ahead; and I'm glad I'm reading with a partner because that helps ensure that I read deeply and don't rush.

I'm also reading a book titled How To Read the Bible for All Its Worth. I've signed up for a semester-long online course in hermeneutics next spring. Why? Because I want to be able to read and study even more deeply on my next read-through. I'm hoping to be on a "read-through" plan every day of my life for the rest of my life. Of course I'll be doing other studies, but I don't ever want to stop reading through the Bible. I don't ever want to stop learning the way one learns with reading the same thing over and over again, at different times in one's life.

(I don't understand the mentality of, "I've read it once, so I don't need to read it again." This is the Bible! You don't just read it once and move on!)

For my next read-through, I would like to do so as part of a group where we meet once a week for an entire year and talk about what we've read. I would love to facilitate a group like that. I've floated the idea to several Christian friends, and someone literally asked me, "Why would you want to do that?" Why, indeed? I wonder if people are just happy to be ignorant.

OK, this post is starting to get uncharitable, so I'll stop here. It does bother me that people, Christians, aren't more curious about what's in their own Bible, or are too busy to read it at all. It bothers me that people who are preachers freely admit that they don't know the Old Testament all that well. How does this happen? Do people not want to know?

Oops, I'm getting uncharitable again. I don't expect comments here, but I do welcome them. I'm wondering if my passion for reading the Bible is just a "honeymoon" kind of thing, and if I'll get to a point where it's not such a big deal anymore. I sincerely hope that won't be the case. Instead, I'd like to begin leading/facilitating groups of people who really want to learn the Bible. I know those people must be out there somewhere!