Why bring a Bible to church?
 

A few weeks ago I mentioned in passing that I’d love us all to have a Bible in church.  I don’t want to make too big a deal out of this and I never want us to feel bad - most church goers in history couldn’t read and didn’t own a Bible! This is not something to fall out over.  But if you were interested here are some personal reasons why I think it could be good for us:

1. It helps us listen. 
We love God so want to hear clearly what He’s saying.  So we want to be sure the preacher is teaching what God actually said.  Being able to look down at the passage ourselves will help us be careful, thoughtful, and discerning.  We can see the context.  We can try to follow the flow and connections and logic.

2. It shows we’re serious. 
One of our distinctives at the Tab is that we think the Bible is absolutely true, relevant, powerful, life giving, more precious than gold.  I can say that as a preacher, but we’ll help the visitor more if they see it.  I love looking out at heads looking down at verses, cross references turned to, some taking notes. 

3. It’s better than a phone. 
The Bible on our phones is great.  Praise God you can read it anytime and place!  But phones are proven to shrink attention spans.  So even if you don’t get distracted in a sermon, generations coming up are very likely to.  Although it seems to be helping younger people by embracing technology, I wonder if I will actually hinder them listening.  I also prefer reading the Bible in a book rather than phone because:
    a) it puts me in thinking rather than flicking mode
    b) I can remember where in the Bible the passage is and start to get a mental map
    c) I can see the whole passage so follower the preacher's flow better

So if you have a hard copy Bible that’s not been opened for a while because you normally read on other devices, consider giving it an outing to church on a Sunday!