Video Transcript

Welcome to Lectio4Life. I'm Michael Palandro, and in today's episode I want to in the end explain to you why I think we need to be reading the Bible for ourselves, and not just listening or reading other people's reflections or meditations on the scripture.

Let me begin by saying this: while we may be reading the scripture alone we can't be reading the scripture in isolation I would say this. That we all need to be reading the Bible in the context of biblically and theologically informed communities of faith.

At the local level, we need to be reading with other people who are also reading the Bible whom we can hear how they're reading, how they're interpreting Scripture, what they're learning, and how it's impacting the way they live their Christian faith, and who can also hear those same things from us. This provides for us a greater depth and breadth of knowledge of the scripture, but also an accountability: not only for what we're learning, but for how we're living the Bible. We all need that.

And at a wider level, we need to be exposing ourselves to good biblical commentary and theological reflection, which adds again even a greater breadth and depth to our understanding and a wonderful accountability for what we're coming to believe and how we're living that. And, that can come many different ways: by way of sermons, lectures, conferences, classes, articles, and books; however else you get access to that kind of information and interpretation of Scripture.

It's good for us. And again, it gives us even a wider accountability for how we're reading, what we're coming to believe, and what impact that reading is having on the shape of our Christian life.

I think in the end it actually helps us come to a fuller formation of our life in Christ.

Now, I'll say this: I believe that reading other people's reflections and meditations on the scripture can work in our lives in very important ways. And I think that's true for two basic reasons: one is we share a universal human experience where we have a lot in common with other people who are reading the scripture and thinking about it and sharing their reflections. We have common desires, needs, concerns, interests, challenges, struggles, opportunities. You know, all of us are dealing with God, and people, and relationships, and families, and work, and communities, and be part of nations. All that is part of our life. And so another person can get insight and find meaning from the scripture that's going to be applicable to some part of our life—some part of our condition or experience as a human being and that's good.

The other thing that makes it helpful and work for us is actually the way people are different from us. Because of their unique situation, unique conditions. And some of that is like basic things: their race, or ethnicity, or gender, or economics or experience with power they are able to see things in the Bible that we are not likely to see and maybe are never going to see because of the limitations of our own condition and experience and so they actually can bring up to us concerns and issues that are important to go that should be important to us but we would not hear unless somebody else raised those for us and so it's helpful to listen to what other people are reading and what they're learning from Scripture but let me tell you why I think it's important that even with those things we need to be reading the Bible for itself and I just want to kind of mention this in three categories one we need to read the text for ourselves we need to let the text of the Bible speak to us we need to see for ourselves what it says in context we can't assume that another person's reading or interpretation or application is good is really helpful that it's a good representation of what the scripture actually says so we need to read it for ourselves we need to see the words we need to hear the words we need to let the words of the text get into our minds in our hearts that we might consider them for ourselves hear them for ourselves here's another thing the Spirit of God has very particular desires and concerns for you and your life in the unique conditions of your life he wants to tell you things he wants to show you things that are on his heart for you that is really important to put ourselves in a place to sit with God in the scripture where the spirit can speak to us where the spirit can address our particular needs and the unique conditions of our lives where he can address his specific and unique calling on our lives where he can speak to the areas where he's wanting to form us and shape us and transform us that he thinks are important to who we are and where we are in our current life conditions and situations and the third thing which is kind of the flipside of the spirits interest is you need to hear God speaking to your specific and unique life conditions needs desires aspirations fears doubts confusions and challenges you need to give him the opportunity to speak through the scripture to you and who you are as a unique person and where you are living you know one of the things that happens is when you read somebody else's reflections or meditation they have already determined what they believe is important in the text and how it speaks to them and then they share that with you but it may not necessarily be what God is wanting to say to you at this time and what you are needing to hear the only way that happens is if you come to the scripture for yourself read the text reflect on the text listen to the spirits voice and let him address you as you are in your current life situation and context that's why I think we need to be reading the Bible for ourselves let me tell you what my deal is about Lectio4Life. essentially I am wanting to encourage people to make the personal reading of Scripture the central practice among a wider cluster of practices for their own spiritual formation and I'm wanting to help you to adopt lectio divina as a preferred way of engaging the scripture because I believe it will open the scriptures in a way to do what the scripture is purpose and what they have the power to do in your life and what I think God wants to accomplish in your life.

Hey, thanks for listening today and that let me just say if you have questions if you have thoughts about what I've said in this episode please write me at lectio4life@gmail.com and if you haven't already listened to my previous episode on what to expect from Scripture you should go and listen to that because I think it has an important connection with today's episode.

Thank you.