Innovation.

Courage.

Paying attention to those on the margins of society.

Learning from those you disagree with.

These themes bounced through Boston’s historic Tremont Temple during the Q Conference, held in late April. It was a heady time, teeming with new info and ideas. And I kept wondering, How can this help us lead people into greater Bible engagement?

Study people

Early in the conference, a young entrepreneur named Jessica Kim suggested that we stop searching for the Next Big Idea and just “study people.” From her research into modern families, she has built a business creating and distributing materials that parents can use to create fun interaction with their young children.

Are we expending too much mental effort on finding the next big idea for our Bible teaching, small group program, or VBS? Would we do better to “study people”? As you consider the people in your church and community, what gets them interested in Scripture? What obstacles exist? How does Bible reading fit into their schedules—or not? What media do they use in their daily lives? How do they form habits, like a daily time of prayer and Bible reading? What issues exist in their lives for which they might seek biblical guidance?
Then see what ideas spring up.

Escape your success

You may have seen the designs of Dana Tanamachi. In the past few years, her chalkboard-inspired artwork has rapidly become one of the hottest styles in advertising. At a certain point, she said at Q, she felt boxed in by her own success. She longed to explore new artistic visions, but clients kept asking for the chalkboard style. It took some courage to move beyond the fad and to find new ways to flourish.

So it is for us sometimes in ministry. A decade ago I developed an innovative small-group plan for the many beginners and seekers in my church. Hundreds signed up, and many of them experienced significant spiritual growth. It was a great success—for a time. I must admit that I clung to the idea a bit too long. It was a painful blessing when a colleague morphed my “brilliant” plan into a new system that worked even better in the following years.

Are you locked into a method of preaching or teaching, a way of organizing small groups, a particular curriculum or devotional guide, or some other approach that worked well in the past? Could that past success keep you from effectively meeting the challenges of the future?

Illuminate the margins

The Q Conference focused a spotlight on various people-groups we might consider on the margins of society—immigrants; African-Americans experiencing abuse in Ferguson, Mo., and elsewhere; Native Americans; Syrian refugees; and the sexually broken. Each group faces huge issues; each has huge needs. Various speakers challenged us to listen, to learn, to love.

It occurred to me that, throughout history, the Bible has often been used by powerful people to keep others on the margin. And yet a careful reading of Scripture leads us to a very different dynamic. The Bible is largely about the margins. The Israelites were slaves in Egypt and later urged to remember that heritage. In their own land, farmers were instructed to leave the margins of their fields unharvested, so the poor could be fed. The law specifically upheld the rights of immigrants. Jesus blessed the poor, the hungry, and the persecuted, and he challenged religious authorities. The early Christians were victims of government abuse. Sure, there are verses written to rulers and the wealthy, but these are exceptions to the general pattern.

Can we, in our ministries, shine this light on Scripture? Can we preach and teach its truths in a way that welcomes the marginal and challenges the powerful? For the people in our orbit, will this make the Bible any more approachable?

Less noun, more verb

One of the Q speakers, Paul Antonio, gave an odd but fascinating demonstration of the work of ancient scribes. Great attention was paid to the physical properties of the materials involved—the vellum, the quill, the ink—but this transmission of the text was also a dynamic spiritual event, prepared with prayer and worship.

This reminded me that the Bible is both an object and an event, a noun and a verb. Sometimes we treat it as an object of reverence, something to study, trust, and respect, and so it is. But it’s far more than that, isn’t it? God’s Word lights our path, delights us, and slices our souls. Bible engagement is a kind of dance, as we learn to move with the holy writings.

So the Mideast peacemaking efforts Lynne Hybels talked about, these were steps in that dance. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Same with Captain Ronald Johnson walking humbly with the protestors in Ferguson. Act justly . . . love mercy . . . walk humbly with your God. The truth of God can’t be contained on paper with ink, no matter how beautifully transcribed. It sweeps through our lives. It lives in our sinews. Richard Stearns of World Vision told us about the multitudes of Syrian families, many of them Muslim, now in crowded refugee camps. “What better way is there for us to respond to Muslims killing Christians,” he asked, “than by feeding Muslim kids?” he asked. Love your enemies has to be more than fifteen letters on a page. It’s God’s truth in verb form—to be esteemed, yes, but also enacted.