Bringing your Bible to church?

A number of people have asked me in the last couple of weeks why I think it is good to bring your own physical Bible to church. 

The first thing to say is this isn’t a law, there is no verse in Scripture which says “Thou shalt bring a bible to church”. For over 1500 years, the bible wasn’t translated into English. It was a further 200 years before Bibles became readily available to the public and even then they were very expensive. 

Bringing your Bible to church is not a hill that I or anyone else should die on. We are incredibly blessed that we have so many faithful versions of the Bible in the English language, and the church bibles are brilliant for newcomers. However, I do think there is something really valuable in bringing our own physical Bibles to church. There is something different in how we engage with an object that is physical and belongs to us.

I would often use a Bible app on my phone which is very useful in lots of contexts eg it is brilliant for looking up verses and being able to share scripture with people. It’s an incredible tool that we can have the word of God on our phones.

It does however have limitations. The size of the screen means what you can see is limited and it’s harder to flick back and forth to see the connections of Scripture and the context of the passage. There’s lots of research out there that says we engage differently with reading on a screen to reading on a printed page. We take less in by reading on a screen. Even when finding something in the bible there is a danger that instead of learning where things are, we just rely on google.

You might say well I just use the church Bibles, which of course is fine but there is a difference in using something which you own. Think about the difference between a library book and a book you’ve read a number of times. You know where things are in the book which you own. There is a visual memory of pages and books. 

We can mark our own Bibles, underline, write notes, names, dates. Very often during the preaching of God’s word we are struck by new insights during the sermon. We are far less likely to remember them and then mark up our Bibles at home with them. I’d encourage you, use post it notes, put the service sheet in your bible. Take it home with you, use it during the week.

Having your own Bible and being familiar with it can help keep preachers honest. The Bereans were more noble in character because they searched the Scriptures diligently. False teaching comes from within and it ordinarily comes from the front. A biblically literate congregation can spot or smell something is not quite right. Of course just having a physical copy of the Bible is no guarantee to that at all, but being familiar with your bible and both knowing and loving its contents, will certainly help you and us as a congregation.

While on Sabbatical last year I went to a number of churches where it seemed that most people were following the Bible reading and sermon on their phone. Again we need to say that isn’t wrong, it’s certainly not sinful. What was interesting was that when you are sitting behind someone with their phone on, you can see them answering messages and checking notifications on Facebook or Insta, getting bored and checking the football scores. It’s the distraction that becomes the issue. It takes a very self controlled person to resist the notifications at any time but particularly during a sermon. I was once preaching and gave an illustration where I said I didn’t know the source. When I returned home I saw I had an email from someone in the congregation sent during the sermon telling me where I could find the illustration and giving links on the net. I was grateful, but I think it’s safe to assume that person zoned out of the sermon for a few minutes scouring the net for my illustration.

As I finish these brief thoughts, we need to remind ourselves we are no more holy and righteous before God if we bring or don’t bring our own Bibles to church. It is the advice of your Minister to bring your Bible but it is only that. You should feel totally free to disregard it and so no feeling proud if you bring your bible or looking down on those who don’t.

Most of all we should be incredible grateful for those who gave their lives so that we could have the Bible in our own language. It is not just another book and not just another app. When King Charles was crowned, he was given a Bible and told it is “the most precious thing that this world affords”.