There are some elements of public worship that receive a great deal of attention. These elements are taught, practiced, rehearsed, and perfected until they are as good as they can be. In most churches, this includes the music, of course, and often the preaching. Why do these receive so much attention? Optimistically, because the church deems them to be of the greatest importance according to Scripture. Less optimistically, it might be because these tend to be the elements that most distinguish different churches as they compete against one another. But either way, some elements receive the lion’s share of attention.
What elements often do not receive nearly as much attention? What elements are often not taught, practiced, rehearsed, and perfected until they are as good as they can be? Prayer can certainly be one of them, yet I don’t think any receives less attention than the public reading of Scripture. It, of all the elements, seems to be the one that suffers the most neglect.
I have been to many churches that did not read the Scriptures at all, except perhaps during the sermon. But I’ve been to many more that did ensure it was inserted into the order of worship, yet it was read in such a way that it came across as an afterthought. It was read in such a way that the meaning of the text became less clear rather than more clear. It was read poorly, without skill, without passion, without conviction, the reader hesitating, fumbling, and tripping over difficult words. It was read in such a manner that I guessed the reader might have been as unfamiliar with the text as the listeners, perhaps reading it for the very first time as he stood before the microphone.
A poor reading of Scripture is a wasted opportunity—an opportunity to honor God by serving his people. Not only that, but neglecting the public reading of Scripture expresses something about a church’s understanding of the Bible. A church that really believes the Bible’s claims about itself will want to honor it by ensuring it is read well. If the Bible truly is the Word of God, if God actually speaks to us when his words are read, then far be it from us to read those words casually, sloppily, or with inadequate preparation. Far be it from us to polish our songs, in which we sing of God, while neglecting Scripture, in which we hear from God.
Far be it from us to polish our songs, in which we sing of God, while neglecting Scripture, in which we hear from God.
I have a theory. My theory is that you can often identify the people who have read books to children by the way they read the Bible. By reading to children, they have learned to read in such a way that they carry and enhance the meaning of the text by the way they speak the text. To be clear, I don’t mean to say that these people are theatrical in their presentation or that they voice each character differently, as someone might when reading an audiobook. I simply mean that they clarify and illuminate the words in the way they read them. They have fostered the skill of holding a listener’s attention. This is something parents and teachers have to do when they read books to children, or else the children tune out. It is a skill that transfers well to reading the Bible before a congregation.
This leads to a simple application. If you want to become a better public reader of Scripture, then work on becoming better at reading books to children. This could be picture storybooks to younger children, classic novels to older children, or devotional literature to a family or youth group. But whatever it is, reading a book before a group will make you more successful at reading the Book before the church. It will help you grow in the core skills of public reading.
I will direct you to some more thorough resources on this subject, but first, here are a few brief pointers on reading Scripture well in public settings:
- Take it seriously. To read the Bible publicly is to stand before other people and read aloud words that God himself has written. This is a tremendous honor and a weighty privilege, and it deserves to be taken seriously.
- Practice. Though this is obvious, it is often neglected: to read the text well, you need to practice reading it. Read the text out loud to yourself (or to others if you want feedback) at least six or eight times. Read it as many times as it takes to understand it and to then enhance that understanding in the way you read. It can sometimes be helpful to mark your Bible a little bit to indicate places you plan to stop, words you wish to highlight, or pairs of words you want to emphasize.
- Prepare. Know what you plan to say before you read the text and know what you plan to say after you read the text. This could be something formal that is repeated each week (e.g., “Listen now as I read God’s holy Word”) or something informal, but unless you plan what to say, you’ll probably find yourself fumbling. The last thing you want to do is draw attention to yourself when you ought to be drawing attention to God through his Word.
- Decide on an authoritative source for the pronunciation of names and places. At our church, we use the ESV Audio Bible. This was actually easier when the ESV had just one reader. Now there are many different readers and they sometimes disagree among themselves, so we go with David Cochran Heath. I recently had to decide on the pronunciation of “shittim.” I didn’t want to say a bad word, but Heath said “SHITT-im,” so I did as well. It’s good to have a source to rely on.
- Get feedback. If you will be reading Scripture regularly, ask for feedback from a pastor, spouse, or friend. Publicly reading the Bible is a skill that, like any other, can be improved with commitment and repetition, so always consider one or two areas you can improve upon next time.
For more thorough instruction on reading the Bible well, consider my article The Public Reading of Scripture. There are surprisingly few books on the subject, which makes me think 9Marks should ask someone to write one since it seems like a natural fit. Until then, Max McLean’s Unleashing the Word is a good choice. Though I haven’t read it, I have also heard good things about Jeffrey Arthurs’ Devote Yourself to the Public Reading of Scripture.
