The Three Ways Pastors Read the Bible

by chadbrooksis@gmail.com | Sep 19, 2018 | bible, ministry, reading

Folks assume your preacher is read their Bible. And we are. (I hope). But reading the Bible as a pastor sometimes gets a little problematic.

In my own life sometimes there is the tendency (and temptation) for sermon preparation to be the only time I am in scripture regularly. I’m willing to call it a confessional moment if you are willing to hear the confession. And that just doesn’t cut it. I need scripture to be a living, breathing thing in my own life period…beyond the vocational realities of why I need the Bible in my life.

Over the last 15 years of ministry, I’ve found a rhythm that is helpful along with a few different strategies of reading that help separate “work” reading from personal reading. I want to share those reading strategies and rhythms with you.

Caveat: 
You need to always be prepared for scripture to throw you into the wildly unpredictable encountering presence of the Holy Spirit. So read ahead with that assumption in mind. At any point, Scripture can get extremely personal. When that happens…let the wave ride.

Three Ways Pastors Read the Bible

Devotional
Let’s go ahead and talk about the big one. This is the most important. If you aren’t doing this, you are being dishonest with your preaching and the way you are leading other folks to encounter Jesus through the Scriptures. So let’s take this as the most important one.

Regular, repeated patterns of devotional reading must be happening. And there are all sorts of ways to approach this. These are my regular go-to’s, in order of frequency.

• Systematic, focused reading of a particular part of scripture. I prefer to go through books of the Bible at a time. When I finish one, I prayerfully discern what the next will be. I did an entire episode of Productive Pastor on my Bible reading plan. You can listen to it here (episode 55: Building a Bible Reading Routine). This is my first read, and I shoot for it every day. My friend Mike Slaughter gave me the basic outline I use daily.
• Whole Bible Reads. I’m a big fan of the 90 days in Scripture process. I typically do it 2x a year.
• Lectio Divina or other extremely slow devotional and prayerful styles of reading the Bible. I allow myself to go into this time and style of reading while I am praying, during retreat moments, when I feel a particular passage in my sermon preparation is calling my heart to contemplation, or any other time a passage deeply strikes me. I love doing this at night as I am calming down for the evening.

With all of these, I think it is imperative to be taking notes, writing down thoughts and realizing God is growing his own boundaries in my heart through scripture. My devotional reading has to be primary, above all other readings of Scripture.

Theological
Over the years I find myself drawn to larger books of the Bible or a specific part of a book (the Sermon on the Mount for instance). This is the type of reading and study many pastors learn in seminary. When I am reading the Bible this way, I am still taking notes, but I am willing to chase all the rabbits. I might pour over a few chapters over the course of a month. I spend time in word study, translating the parts I feel need to be translated. I run down articles in Bible Dictionaries to help me gain a better understanding of the passage. I’ll jump into a commentary to better understand the larger dynamics at play. I keep bigger notes on all that I am doing because these reading do pay off in the end.

I have learned from my devotional reading to simply notice things and ask questions. I let the Spirit pour over the passage and pour over me. I dive deep from an academic perspective. This allows my mind to be challenged and for my prayer life to engage in deeper work of the heart. I save these readings for longer stretches in the evening, or when I am on a study retreat. These are the times I find scripture I feel called to preach on. But the primary goal is to simply delight in the word of God. Nothing more. And with no real agenda.

In the past, I’ve done these sorts of reads on the Minor Prophets, the gospel of John, Jeremiah, Revelation, and Exodus. I wish I had more time for it.

Sermon Reading
As I said earlier, everything begins with the devotional reading time. But everything ends with the ways we read the Bible as we prepare to preach.

In some ways, I hope it has been the two previous readings that inform the time I spend reading for sermons and preparing to preach. I really like to not jump into a passage for preaching that hasn’t gone through my heart in my devotional reading and if I can help it, through my own deeper theological reading. In some ways, sermon reading is just a condensed time of theological reading. I don’t blindly go into the text for a sermon, so I discern and filter my reading through the lens of my Monday Moment and what I feel the Spirit is trying to teach the congregation about Jesus.

I keep a pretty heavy amount of paper notes during my sermon readings, as well as filled out worksheets for communication purposes and word study. I make charts for myself of how the passage is relating not just to itself, but to the larger context around it. If I want to chase a rabbit and it doesn’t necessarily apply, I make a note and go back to it at another time for a deeper theological reading. I try to listen to the Spirit and spend time in worship and prayer as I am reading and preparing for a message.

Sermon reading is wildly different than devotional or theological reading, but it is absolutely informed by them.

So how does this all play into ministry?

It’s a little weird. So let me break it down like this. I am obsessive about the notes I take in my devotional reading because it informs new places for my theological reading. And I absolutely LOVE coming into a passage for my preaching that has been through both of the previous readings. Why? Because I know I have already poured over it with my prayer life and with my mind. I consistently make myself ask tough questions in my devotional reading, so that translates really well into sermon work. It helps to put some flesh on how the passage is appropriate and needed in our own world. And I love how my theological reading allows me to go into places I might not normally for my sermon research, but I frequently pull from this work when I am preaching a message (or three) at an outside event. I’ve got a bunch of stuff to pull from that isn’t necessarily Sunday specific.

And over time, I’ve learned to always be reading scripture in light of application. I struggle with when reading and preaching from a text that hasn’t gone through the ringer. But I’ve also slowly learned to always be outlining for communication, so it isn’t odd to find potential sermon outlines or points in my devotional notebook.

All of the readings affect each other and they play best when they are allowed to be at their best. Three separate readings for three separate reasons.

I hope this explanation has been helpful. I don’t anyone who fills the pulpit should ever be without a deep passion and pattern for reading the scriptures and personally applying it to their life first. Only after that can we begin to invite others into the journey God has taken us on first.