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Unleashing the Word
- 11/03/09
- 17
When was the last time you read a book about reading? Maybe you have read Adler's How to Read a Book or another like it. When was the last time you read a book about reading Scripture? Maybe you have read a book about how to do better personal devotions and have found there some ideas about reading Scripture in a more effective way. But when was the last time you read a book about the public reading of Scripture in the worship service? It's a pretty safe bet that you never have read such a book; only a very few exist. I was excited, then, to see Max McLean's Unleashing the Word: Rediscovering the Public Reading of Scripture. "I want to help you learn to present the Bible in such a way that your audience can engage the Word with their heart, mind, and soul as they hear it being read aloud," he says in his introduction. "The goal is ultimately transformation--their lives will be touched and changed, just as the original hearers were."
If I had read this book a few years ago, it would have rocked my world, I think. It is only since I began attending Grace Fellowship Church that I've come to see the value of the public reading of Scripture not as a simple means to an end--a way to get us from the music to the sermon--but as an end in itself. In this church I've come to see the reading of Scripture as a core part of the teaching ministry of the church. The Word preaches; the Word is the sermon before the sermon. And if this is true, then we ought to invest effort in reading it well. This can only be the case where the reading of Scripture is given prominence within the worship service and where the person reading is talented and passionate about what he is doing. And this is what I have seen with consistency at my church. So I have seen modeled what McLean is so passionate about and can attest to the great value in treating the reading of Scripture in this way.
McLean teaches what he does under several headings. He first shares a bit of biographical information, telling how he came to know the Lord and, from there, how he came to love to read Scripture. He has, after all, begun a Scripture-reading ministry within his church; he has recorded the whole Bible several times; he has done one-man dramatic presentations of some of the books of the Bible; he continues to do a daily radio show that is nothing but the reading of Scripture. The Bible--the simple reading of the Bible--has been the core of his whole ministry.
Having shared his story, McLean offers very practical guidance on how to begin a Bible-reading ministry within the local church. This is what he wants to see: talented individuals who make it their ministry in the church to participate in the worship service by reading Scripture. His tips range from how stand before a crowd and deliver an effective reading of Scripture to how to prepare a passage to how to breath when nervous to everything in between. He then provides some teaching on how to teach others to participate in this ministry before concluding with some more practical guidance on preparation, delivery and so on. It is in all ways a practical book. I love his vision here and would rejoice to see churches adopting it.
I was not without a couple of concerns when reading the book. The foremost has to do with gender roles within the church. McLean is clear that he considers the reading of Scripture part of the church's core teaching ministry. At the same time, he considers this a task that can be performed equally by men and women. In fact, most of the examples he offers in the book are of women who participate in this ministry. It seems to me, though, that if this is a teaching ministry within the context of the worship service at a local church, then it would be most consistent with Scripture to have men being the ones who teach through reading. Without knowing McLean's views on women in ministry, I do wonder if we can have this both ways. This is an issue individual churches would want to ponder before beginning such a ministry.
So much for concerns. Unleashing the Word is narrowly-focused and that is one of its strengths. The book is almost wholly concerned with reading Scripture in worship services. Yes, McLean does dedicate a bit of attention to other contexts (such as public marathon readings of the Bible) but really, his concern is to have Christians rediscover the public reading of Scripture in the worship service and to see it as a core part of the ministry of the local church. And in this I could not agree with him more. I would love to see Christians reading this book and allowing McLean to help them rediscover a most important practice. Buy this one and read it yourself. Then pass it to your pastor and ask him to read it too.
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I write books and blogs for fun while doing web design and consulting for a living. I worship and serve at 
Published in 2008, this book
This is a guide that calls men,
This review of the bestselling
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Comments (17)
Tim please define what a 'worship service is'. Is the concept derived from the new testament church? where?
Thanks for this Tim - I'll definitely read this as soon as I can. Having spent a couple of years being responsible for finding and training (in a very basic way) readers for services, a book on this topic is very welcome indeed! The only thing I found previously is an excellent little article by Simon Roberts entitled "How to read the Bible in church" (The Briefing, Issue 331, available here:http://matthiasmedia.com.au/mmstore/ebrfg331.html)
Anyone who has heard the public reading of Scripture at Tim Keller's church knows what a difference thoughtful, rehearsed reading of Scripture can make. I subscribe to Tim Keller's sermons for two reasons: to hear Tim Keller exposit the Scriptures and second to hear excellent public reading of those Scriptures.
There is such power in the Word . Reading it by yourself is good. But hearing it is another benefit.
The words of Christ have resonated through time and can still change lives. Love those red letters -- not only hearing, but doing.
Davidhttp://www.redletterbelievers.com
Hey, Tim, thanks for the post!
I was wondering what your understanding of Col. 3 16 would be in reference to women "teaching and admonishing" through song in a corporate worship context, and how you would see that as distinct from the public reading of scripture.
Thanks!
We are a not-for-profit educational organization, founded by Mortimer Adler and we have recently made an exciting discovery--three years after writing the wonderfully expanded third edition of How to Read a Book, Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren made a series of thirteen 14-minute videos, lively discussing the art of reading. The videos were produced by Encyclopaedia Britannica. For reasons unknown, sometime after their original publication, these videos were lost.
Three hours with Mortimer Adler on one DVD. A must for libraries and classroom teaching the art of reading.
I cannot over exaggerate how instructive these programs are--we are so sure that you will agree, if you are not completely satisfied, we will refund your donation.
Please go here to see a clip and learn more:
http://www.thegreatideas.org/HowToReadABook.htm
I am reading an article about a book about reading a book...whoa. (And you just read a comment about an article about a book about reading a book.)
In our small Anglican church, I am a regular lector and read the Old Testament, Psalms, and New Testament (though not the Gospel) lessons about once a month. To prepare for this, I read the passages aloud several times during the week before and note words or sections for special emphasis, etc. It can be an inspiring ministry if embraced wholeheartedly, so I'm glad to see that Max McLean has written this book.
Although I truly enjoy being a reader, I agree men really should be teachers of the Word and I pray that more men in our congregation would give it a try.
So pleased that reading the Word aloud is now getting attention. I cannot begin to describe how my eyes have been opened (or should I say ears? ) concerning Hearing the Word. I have Max' Bible reading on my I pod. Although I regularly read through the Bible each year,this was a fascinating experience: the Bible came alive in a new way. I found myself crying with sadness and joy and the feeling of anticipation, even though I know the stories so well. Am listening to Paul's letters at the moment and for the first time, Paul became a man of flesh and blood for me; his passion and care for the first believers; his struggles and disappointments were tangible. Of course, I haven't even touched on the Gospels themselves :)
Stuart Olyott wrote an excellent short book on reading the Bible and praying in public. It's published by the Banner of Truth. It's entitled: Reading the Bible and Praying in Public. It's £1.25 in the UK. Highly recommended.http://www.banneroftruth.org/pages/item_detail.php?5086
On this related topic of the proclamation of the Word, there is a small, easy-to-read book called The Family at Church, by Joel Beeke. Part of the book is on listening, and listening to sermons.
This reminds me of God's promised blessing in Revelation 1:3, "Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near."While that verse isn't specifically referring to the public reading of Scripture in a worship service, it is an appropriate application.
If we truly believed in the power of the Word of God, we would spend more time simply reading it - individually and corporately - wouldn't we?
Sounds like an excellent book - I'm excited to dig into it. Thanks for the heads up!
I have just finished reading through the book myself and the issue of public reading of scripture has been on my heart for sometime. It is God's Word and the reading of it should be done well and speak to His excellence. It should not be done with disinterest or poorly because by that action, whether we mean it or not, we do not shine well on His Word and putting it strongly, we dishonor Him.
Some of the practical details are nice for thought: how to go about initiating public reading in your church, how to work with children with them learning to read publicly are two that come to mind. i would not put the emphasis on "actors or voice professionals" necessarily being the ones to do the reading, but i loved his point of interacting with the text as you read, making it a part of you - I believe that most anyone who passionately loves God's Word should be able to learn it well.
I also shared Tim's concern for the role of women taking the point on the public proclamation of the Word. I understand from reading Redeemer's website that they take a more liberal view than many as what is appropriate for a woman's place in church ministry. I appreciate Sarah's sentiment above - her wishing more men would take an interest in taking leadership in service of worship and there would not necessarily be a need. An additional concern i have is McLean's seeming lack of discernment of the Catholic Church's view of the mass . . . it is not merely their "worship" service, but it is the service by which the Lord is sacrificed again for the sin of those in need of ongoing grace. This equivalency of the Protestant and Catholic service did not help, but will only discredit the book with some. Then again, i understand the book is not meant to be a theological statement and i wholeheartedly applaud the public proclamation of God's Word in any venue where it is honored and lifted up. It will not return void.
A quote from Oliver O'Donovan:
There is another requisite for the public reading of Scripture beside the lectionary, seemingly even less attended to, and that is a public reader. A task once confined to the clergy has now largely been made over to lay members of the congregation, but far from dignifying lay ministry, this has, on the whole, merely marginalised a task on which a great deal in the act of worship depends. I confess that I know of no church that trains its readers; its reading readers, that is, for when we call people “readers” and say we train them, we have something different in mind, which is itself eloquent! When I hear a lesson read with careful thought, with pace, articulation, pause and pitch all placed at the service of the sense of the passage, I make a point of thanking the reader, since the effort made will not have been asked for and probably not appreciated. Yet many a church may stay alive by the ministry of its readers which would otherwise die by the ministry of its preachers.
You can read the full article online.
I am truly impressed with the people that are committed readers of yours Tim! I expected to roll down the comments on this one with some backlash regarding your concerns with women being the ones to do the scriptural reading. I was pleasantly surprised to see that your tasteful words concerning leadership and how that should be displayed in the church were well received and so they should be.
You have mentioned in previous postings the stories you have heard of the abdicating of leadership by some men in their homes (due to the laying down of the man as leader by his own choosing or by simply not knowing what he is to be). There are a group of us women out here that have been carrying roles in our families and churches that we were never meant to be in and we believe that our prayers lifting up our husbands are heard and will be answered! This of course will require us to gently lay down those roles when our husbands are ready to take back that position in our homes which could prove difficult but we're ready.
What a beautiful way for our men to take up the position of leadership in our churches and homes - the public reading of scripture. Research shows that boys are becoming less and less likely to read books due to the prevalence of video games and the internet. The problem with this is that God has chosen to reveal himself in a book! It is my hope that opening up that realm of public scripture reading in our churches and homes in a captivating way would stir something in these boys to cause them to want to read it. After all, faith comes by hearing does it not?
Great post Tim!
I just read a rather stunning article on CT about this exact subject. The article is called 'Yawning at the Word'http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/novemberweb-only/144-41.0.htmlI encourage people reading this blog post to also read this article in CT.