Would you like to read the Bible with me?

It’s election season in a fallen world and a sagging economy. Our national conversation focuses on discouraging statistics, economic and cultural decline. There’s quite a chorus of voices and images out there railing at the darkness. As followers of Jesus should we join them? What are we prepared to do?

It’s election season in a fallen world and a sagging economy. Our national conversation focuses on discouraging statistics, economic and cultural decline. There’s quite a chorus of voices and images out there railing at the darkness. As followers of Jesus should we join them? What are we prepared to do?

As good stewards of our citizenship I believe we should, at a minimum, pray and vote. (You can join Eric Metaxas and others praying daily for our country in the countdown to the election.) We can also give our time and treasure to the campaigns, or contend for issues of justice like the sanctity of life.

As I’ve been praying for our nation and thinking where might we find real hope for our future I come back again to Jesus’ command to invest our lives in making disciples. I wonder what our country might look like if we who call Jesus “Lord” were as consistently focused on his mission for us as much as we are focused on politics. Or sports. Or entertainment. And I think this deeply and most importantly for myself.

In today’s culture with such a high value on authenticity, making disciples increasingly means making friends with outsiders. Doing it with no agendas. Just because we love them and want to serve them. As we build mutual trust and let others into our lives Jesus quite naturally flows out. We have opportunities to talk about what each of us believes and why we believe it. We tell stories of what it means to walk with the living God.

Often we discover that our friends are interested in things spiritual but not too informed on what the Bible really says. What would happen if you offered your time and friendship to read the Bible together?

I asked a friend this question recently. When she said that she would like to I had to decide how to go about it. Start with the gospel of John? Read through the passages that describe the creation/fall/redemption basics of God’s larger story?

Before we actually met to begin reading together I came across a terrific resource: E-100.

This guide to reading 100 essential passages of Scripture begins with Genesis and ends with Revelation. You get the big picture in bite-sized portions. The folks at the American Bible Society have grouped the 100 passages into 20 groups of 5. Each reading is usually 1-2 chapters. Following each group of 5 readings are 10 questions that focus on application. It’s a very “easy entry” program that opens up such rich discussion.

God’s Word is truly alive and powerful and reading it together turns that power loose. Not only can reading the Bible together with a friend deepen relationships with God it deepens relationships with each other.

Feeling the weight of the darkness? Shine the light of God’s Word into a friend’s heart. It is the power of God that saves, transforms and brings hope that never disappoints.