Unpacking...

This post has been brewing for a while! I belong to a group of Church of the Brethren Pastors who get together monthly to share reflections on a book we have agreed to read. We are at a juncture where we are soon finished the book we have been reading and choose a new one.

And the facilitator of the group asked for suggestions of what to read next... I could have guessed that someone would suggest the Bible and sure enough they did. I have a couple of thoughts about that that I'd like to share. First, it is my sincere hope that everyone in the group is ALREADY reading the Bible regularly. Second, I find great value in reading and discussing the Bible in a group context (that is what we do at Passages on Wednesday nights @7:15 p.m. at Community of Joy). BUT, (and you knew there was one coming!) I have never found it particularly helpful to study the Bible in a group of pastors. The reason is that too many times, we bring our baggage with us to the table and can't unpack it! Too many times, pastors have already "figured out" what a passage says and can't get beyond their "understanding". So, as bad as it sounds, I am not in favor of discussing the Bible with a group of Pastors.

Further, I think it is important for us to STRETCH our perspective on important issues of leadership, evangelism, church growth/heath, world context, etc. And it is for that reason that I spend as much time as I can each week reading books on these topics and others. I find it immeasurably valuable to glean ideas and thoughts from other practitioners. Especially ones from varying perspectives. That helps me strengthen my own perspective or it helps me move toward another perspective... either way growth happens.

I do find it valuable when we stretch ourselves in our reading and then share our learnings from that! Looking forward to continuing the journey!