When I finished my degree at Moore Theological College last year I wanted to make sure that one item on my self-help productivity list was reading books. But there’s a lot to read and so we need to prioritize what we’re going to feed our eyes, ears and hopefully brain. At the top of the list were books on some of the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith. These were books I had read before but wanted to go over again and some books I hadn’t read yet. I read a book on the Trinity, the atonement but also on wisdom literature, pornography and certain books of the Bible I was preaching on at the time.
When it comes to choosing a book to read you might choose one because you’re faced with a situation in church life and ministry or because something is going on in the world that you need to think more about. Our motivation for reading books on these topics is to gear us up to help address the present situations that we’re in – especially if they’re novel. Yet even amidst the ever-changing tides of the world I’ve wanted to make sure I don’t skimp on the fundamentals. Doctrines like the Trinity, the atonement and scripture will apply to every aspect of life and every season of life. It can be tempting to only read up on cultural critiques or pastorally relevant material – at least that’s something I find tempting. With this in mind I set myself the goal of trying to read up on these fundamentals regularly and to encourage Christians in my church and others more broadly to do the same for the same reason.
One of those dietary essentials is the doctrine of scripture. I had read Tim Ward’s book – or at least parts of it – during my studies but thought it worthwhile to read the whole book again because of the importance of the doctrine (definitely not because I’ve forgotten any of the material!). There’s more to it than that though. I was listening to a podcast a few weeks ago (I’ve since forgotten which one it was) that made a great point about reading books. You could have a question and you look up the answer to that particular question (say, in an article addressing it) but when you read a book you absorb all the peripheral data on the topic that then informs you more generally. Think about what that does for you in the long run. All the peripheral knowledge tends to answer the questions we will have before we have them. It also gives us a catalogue of tools and resources so that when we do face something we have somewhere to go, we have a book we can go to. We discover all the hidden chocolate we’ve got in the back of the cupboard.
Anyways I’ve gotten off on a tangent. Basically, I know that the doctrine of scripture is something worth investing my time and energy into understanding well. But it’s not just that I’m reading for my own sake. Something that has been at the forefront of my mind as I read is that I am reading also for the sake of others, particularly those in my church and other circles that I engage with. It’s very easy to think that reading is primarily a self serving activity – because of course it will always be at least a self-serving activity in that we must be the person reading the book and understanding the book ourselves. But as I have read with others in mind it has definitely shaped the way that I read in general. I’m looking for things that might be helpful not just for my own questions and gaps in knowledge but for others too. This means that we might see things that otherwise we could easily have skipped over or not considered as important for ourselves personally. Suddenly reading takes on a new light. But isn’t that the point of a book review in the first place? I guess what I’m saying here is that the purpose behind a book review could be applied to lots more of our reading. Indeed it could apply to a whole range of content that we consume. That is, to read not just for ourself, but for the sake of others.
On that note, check out my video for the ‘Wards of Life’ review. It’s been approved by all the highest authorities – my mates.
Peace.
Bigvai and Shiphrah 