Why does the Church refuse to unleash her most powerful weapon?

It's not even a secret weapon.

Over the next few posts, I’m going to write about the public reading of Scripture in our churches and how we can – and should – do it better. I wrote about this problem a few years ago in my book, The Sacred Art of Joking. But I’m going to take a fresh look at the problem here, although I will draw on some of that material.

Let’s Admit We Have a Problem

If we’re honest, we probably have to admit that in most churches, most of the time, the public reading of scripture is quite bad. It’s very rarely the highlight of the service – and even putting it like that might make you wonder how or why it could ever be the highlight of the service.

That in itself is a serious problem. We’re talking about God’s beautiful word, the words of life that tell us about Him, and his Son our saviour and king Jesus Christ, whose very Spirit speaks through that word.

Yet reading that word in church on a Sunday morning is mostly an exercise in damage limitation. It’s on a rota. People take turns. Let’s hope it’s not a disaster.

It is rarely done well. Moreover, I would argue that the problem is so bad that if you did read the Bible extremely well, and it was the highlight of the service, you may well end up being accused of being an attention-seeker. Or making other people look bad. Or eclipsing the sermon.

How on earth did we get into this position?

Even if you believe the most important part of our gathered Sunday worship is the sermon (which I don’t think it is), then surely having the passage on which you are preaching read well is a serious asset when it comes to explaining it? If the congregation has already experienced the passage through the reading of it, if they have already been enthralled by it (imagine that!), then the sermon will only be enhanced.

In fact, reading scripture much better could actually save time – or allow more time for greater depth. Many preachers have to waste valuable time in their sermon summarising what the passage actually said, because they’re not convinced anyone was listening when it was read aloud.

But here I go sounding like an evangelical who thinks it’s all about the preaching. We’re in serious danger of thinking that the heavy lifting in the church service is done by the preacher. It’s all about his sermon, his illustrations, his key points.

No, it isn’t. The real power is in God’s word itself.

The Slicing Power of God’s Word

The Bible we’re reading from is the word of God. They are words from God. This is not a collection of finite humanity’s imperfect attempts to capture the story of an infinite God. After reading from the Bible in the Church of England, the reader says ‘This is the Word of the Lord’. Because it is.

Given that God is God and we are not, and that words have power, God’s words are unimaginably powerful. They are transformative. In Ephesians 6:17, we read that God’s word is the sword of the Spirit. In fact, the word is a razor-sharp two-edged sword. Hebrews 4:12 extends the metaphor:

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

Ouch. God’s word is powerful. Handle with extreme care.

Feel The Quality

Let’s just stop and observe the quality and power of that imagery that we find in the Bible. Isn’t it astonishing? The writer to the Hebrews is painting a vivid picture of a sword slicing through bones and marrow, cutting us open and exposing us. A script of this quality is exceedingly rare. We’ll come on to the beauty of the word later, but for now, let’s just admire the armour-piercing firepower of the Bible.

When you’re reading scripture, you’re not firing blanks. So why don’t we unleash this powerful weapon? Why don’t we use it more to rouse our congregations from their slumber?

Live ammunition really focusses the mind. Ask any soldier.

Music Just Ain’t The Same

Music can be transcendent. And worship songs can be beautiful (and some are tiresome and banal). But they’re really not the same as God’s word. We are commanded to sing God’s praises and it’s encouraging for all of us to lift our voices. It’s not clear to me why we should do that for 10-20 minutes in the service, while spending less than five minutes reading scripture. (And let’s not get into the debate about why many of us have given up singing Psalms)

Ironically, it’s evangelical churches that have the least scripture in their service. Again, I think it’s because the sermon is deemed to be so important, it’s better to use the time available to explain one passage of scripture rather than have two or three others.

Traditional services, especially Anglo-Catholic ones, follow the lectionary, which would give you three readings, from the Old Testament, New Testament and Gospels. What’s not to like? The readers in those services may grind their way through all the readings but you know what? Given the power of God’s word, I’d rather we read a lot quite badly, than not at all.

Fortunately, we don’t have to choose between quality and quantity. Let’s do it a lot and well. And the better we do it, the more we’ll want to do it. We’ll actually be eager to hear the whole chapter read, rather than edited highlights for the sake of time.

But how can we improve the quality? We’ll make a start on that next time. So if you don’t already, why not subscribe?

And if you already subscribe, why not share it with members of your church and start the discussion?

By the way, on Friday 9th December, I’m running a 90 minute ‘pay-what-you-like’ webinar about how to improve your prospects as a writer in 2023. Mostly aimed at screenwriters, but there’s something in for writer of all kinds who are serious about their craft. Find out more here.