By Curtis Booher
What will it take to turn the tide of biblical illiteracy among young people? I contend it will require us to listen more than we talk.
We should listen well to young people from every point of the illiteracy to literacy continuum. I have tried to listen to the students sitting in my Bible survey classes, and this is what I”ve heard:
Model a Love for Scripture
It”s not that students can”t read the Bible; they can. But really, why would they want to? When was the last time they saw their parents read the Bible for the joy of it? When was the last time they saw anybody read the Bible and speak about it with irresistible passion? When was the last time they saw somebody read the Bible and then do something because of it? In other words, when was the last time they saw the Bible matter?
A young boy was walking around the playground pulling a piece of string. His teacher approached him and asked, “Why are you pulling that piece of string?” The boy replied, “Because it”s a lot easier than pushing it.” When it comes to encouraging young people to read the Bible, it is a lot easier to lead from the front than to push from the back. When adults engage in regular Bible study, teens around them are more likely to develop a lifelong habit themselves. If you model a passion for reading the Bible, students will pick up on it.
Tell the Whole Story
We can no longer simply sprinkle a few verses on top of our topical lessons and think we are improving biblical literacy among our students. It is important that we use more Scripture in our teaching and allow students to see the context of the larger narrative. They need to see the whole book, not a series of disconnected pages torn from it.
I know we are troubled by research stating 60 percent of Americans can”t name even four of the Ten Commandments. More than 50 percent thought Sodom and Gomorrah were husband and wife. But the more troubling issue is a deeper illiteracy””the loss of the biblical story of God”s redemption of humanity.
It is our great opportunity to be storytellers that help students become literate in the grand story of God revealed in the stories of the Bible. To participate in a mission of boosting biblical literacy among young adults is to find ways to tell the story of the gospel for each generation.
Equip Us for Discovery and Dialogue
Young people want to explore and discover the Bible for themselves. Teachers who struggle and work to prepare a lesson know that great joy comes from exploration and discovery. This is the reason teachers often learn more than their students and are surprised that students don”t share the passion they have experienced. Teenagers want to explore the Bible on their own, but they want the skills and tools necessary to navigate it without getting lost. In other words, they want the context that would allow them to read and discover the biblical stories for themselves.
The solution to the biblical illiteracy problem will not be found in biblically literate people talking more about the Bible. Rather, it is providing the skills necessary for teens to read and interpret the Bible for themselves so they can join the conversation and articulate their own discoveries.
The Bible is Life-Changing
The students in my classes tell me the power of the Bible is not information but transformation. People tend to read for information or entertainment. Neither of those reasons is sufficient to keep people reading Scripture. Ultimately, life change is why we read the Bible. It may be informative and entertaining, but we read the Bible because it changes us from the inside out. I think I”m going to read it, and it starts reading me. I think I”m going to judge it, and it starts judging me. I think I”m going to weigh its words, and it”s my life that is being weighed.
Perhaps as we allow our own lives to be changed as we meet God in Scripture, teens will want to read the rest of the story too.
Curtis Booher serves as associate professor of Christian ministry with Milligan College in Tennessee. He is codirector of Youth in Ministry Student Leadership Conference and has two teenaged daughters.
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