The Bible has between 66 and 81 books, depending on whether you prefer one with or without the Apocrypha. That's over 780,000 words! There is so much of the Bible to be read, studied and enjoyed.
And yet, so often, as Churches and Christians we have a nasty habit of writing off books before we've even started reading them.
* Revelations? Too scary.
* Corinthians? Just angry letters.
* The entire Old Testament? Impossible to reconcile the Old Testament “angry God” with the New Testament “nice one”.
The list goes on, and on, and on, until eventually we're in danger of being left with the Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And we use these a lot. The stories for Christmas and Easter are found here, readings from them are used at baptisms, weddings and funerals (the hatched, matched and dispatched trifactor) - used to death (if you'll pardon the pun).
But, by narrowing down our biblical horizons and removing so much text, so many words and passages, we miss out on the fullness of God's message for us. A common complaint about the Bible from atheists and theists alike is that the Bible doesn't make sense. It has too many plot holes, too many pitfalls and too many bits that simply don't add up. But, in reality, how do we expect it to make sense if we only ever read 4 parts of a 66-part story. You wouldn't do that for any other book series - select a book from the middle and complain you don't know what's going on.
I should probably add that that I'm not saying no church ever selects readings from elsewhere in the Bible - a while ago Ashby had a whole service series on exploring the Old Testament - I'm just saying we do have a habit of relying heavily on the Gospels for our services. So, my challenge to you today is to pick up your Bible and read a part of it you've never read before. It could just be a verse, it could be an entire chapter or even an entire book, as long as it’s new to you.
When we explored the Old Testament at Ashby I found some of the stories eye opening and really explanatory for stories I knew of in the New Testament. So go on, open your Bible and see what God is saying. Enjoy...!
Harry Booton
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