This series is about the importance of the oral tradition and reading scripture out loud, with other people. I know, at first glance to be a very strange proposal. I mean, aren’t there more important things to discuss about scripture or about community than the importance of reading the bible, out loud together?

For a few years now, I’ve wrestled with that question.

I keep coming back to this topic over and over again and struck by its importance. I think it’s partly due to the environment I live in, here in the West. We have a very independent spirit about us which has contributed to our success. The individual spirit it’s crept into all sorts of areas of our life- our political structure, business practices, and most of all, our religious heritage. In fact, it took me a while to really pinpoint this missing element from my own life. I don’t claim to have it all resolved either. I’m really just hoping that this series will evoke some thoughts in others to see if this is truly a good idea, or merely a misaligned pattern drawn from my own, personal experience.

So, instead of jumping in with theory or praxis, I thought I might share a few stories- a few scenes as it were, to shed some light on my own experience over the past few years. These three scenes embody of what’s been nagging at me. Together (along with other scenes that I don’t have time for), they form an outline of a misalignment that I’ve sensed for the past few years. I hope that they will invite you into the discussion and spark some interest in you to explore this topic with me.

Scene One:

If you’ve attended an American church for any length of time, you’re probably familiar with a similar rendition of the following story:

As a small group bible study nears its end, during prayer request time, someone in the group lets everyone know that her computer died and she is looking into different options for replacement. She needs the group to pray about it because she isn’t certain how much money she has and which computer really meets her needs. She’d like a Mac, for after all it’s the computer that she likes the most, but she’s not certain that she wants it for the right reasons or if she can afford one at all.

Later, after a week of prayer and meditation, she returns and tells the group that while thinking through her decision, she turned to the book of Genesis and began reading about the garden and God’s command to eat of any tree in the forest (with one exception: Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil). She knew at that very moment that the decision was clear- God wanted her to get a PC. Why else would she be directed toward a passage about the “forbidden fruit” (which was obviously God’s symbol for the APPLE computer she was concerned about)? She thanks the group for their prayer and announces that the request has been answered- scripture has been used to clear up her issue about which computer she should purchase as a replacement.

Scene Two:

This story is actually true, (the former was a myth that I invented based on similar experience regarding individual interpretations of scripture).

The other week I was wondering around the bookstore when my eyes happened upon a display table filled with all sorts of different bibles. It seems that no matter who you are there is a bible tailor-made for your taste and style.

Traditional leather bibles, thump-able and what have you, stood out clearly on the table. But there were also women’s devotional bibles, teen devotional bibles, men’s bibles, and girl’s bibles. There were children’s bibles- with mostly pictures, and bibles that looked more like a journal than scripture. There were poetic interpretations and slang versions. There were big ones that called attention to themselves and some so small you could fit them in your pocket. There were bright colors, soft colors, hardbacks, paperbacks and every variety in-between.

One in particular caught my eye. It seemed to sum up the entire experience. It was the Solo Bible Devotional from Eugene Peterson. Now, while the Solo Bible Devotional isn’t actually a bible (it’s a collection of scripture and thoughts from Peterson and spaces for self-reflection), it captured my attention because it seemed to be encouraging each person to create their own unique experience.

“You can do it!” It called to me. “This bible and you are all you need to begin your solo journey in Christ.”

Scene Three:

During the past few years, I’ve been admiring the work of musicians who have invited their fan base to remix or reinterpret songs. Radiohead, Ben Folds, Phoenix, and 3Eb (among others) have all made their contributions in one form or another. I’ve blogged about each of them in the past because in a way, it represents the practical outworking of the postmodern “Death of the Author” doctrine that’s been broadcast by art critics and university professors. The artist’s invitation to the public to reinterpret a song is a way that they create a unique experience for each listener.

It’s a similar concept that video game designers use when introducing a “sandbox” map or character that can be customized by players.

Perhaps this idea is represented in its finest form within the work of the folks over at Auto-Tune the News. You don’t need to look much further than their site to know that reinventing arbitrary videos can make them even more fantastic than they were to begin with. In fact, many of these remixes are much more famous than the original content.

Three scenes:

1. A girl who knows that the scripture has authority over her purchasing decisions
2. The solo bible devotional, inviting us on our own unique journey
3. The 'death of the author' and a culture that embraces and encourages personal interpretation

These (and others like them) represent the cultural underpinnings that I live in. Perhaps you, too, have experienced stories like these in your own life. Over the next few posts, I hope to explore exactly why I feel that reinstituting the oral tradition and community reading are so vitally important for us today.

I hope you'll join me, too, or this will be a fairly contradictory exercise.