Designated Readers

Is it correct to call clergy the designated readers of the church?

“My therapist tells me I have PTSD from the church.” A former youth director spoke openly with me many years ago. “These people don’t read the Bible,” he said. He was being very open with me a pastor in The United Methodist Church about his experience. I never had any experience with his congregation, but I thought I understood his point. I am not sure his temperament was ever suitable for youth ministry. Now though, he was broken to a point it no longer mattered. He would not be going back into such a role.

Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome has become a catch-all diagnosis. The symptoms can belong to many disorders. However, he exhibited more symptoms than professional burn out or moral injury can explain. What is it from his reading of scripture that leads him to claim the other people in the church do not read it? I can answer that.

Readers and Non-readers

I can tell whether a person reads the Bible if I ask what their favorite passages of scripture are. Is it Philippians 4:13? “I can do all things through him who strengthens me?” Is it John 3:16? Jeremiah 29:11? Does the passage appear on plaques or pillows? Are we more likely to encounter such a text at a funeral or a wedding? These are hints that the person who relies on a passage of scripture for inspiration has never really read the Bible.

Brent Strawn tells seminary students that as clergy we are “designated readers” of the Bible. Clergy members should study the Bible and share the knowledge gained. It is our job, after all. It is possible to have a good knowledge of the Bible and continue to claim one of the above mentioned passages as a favorite. Yet, few clergy really claim those common favorites. Why? Because we know reading the Bible is not done to give one the warm fuzzies. We read the Bible to contemplate living. The book of Psalms opens with words of encouragement to do more than worship, “but their delight is in the law of the Lord/and on his law they meditate day and night./They are like trees planted by streams of water,/which yield their fruit in it season,/and their leaves do not wither.”

Designated?

The term designated is similar to the word sanctified. In baseball, the designated hitter has non-fielding role in the game. All other batters must play defensive positions in the field. A designated driver does not drink alcohol or use intoxicating substances with the passengers. The word designated sets a person apart to fulfill a needed role. When we consider the nuances of my example the designated hitter in baseball is the closest to designated reader in the church.

Clergy often have to engage in helping people “unlearn” what they thought they knew about the Bible. That task takes special skills few of us possess. It is hard to be diplomatic when explaining what the book of Jonah is saying. It is very difficult when one tries to overcome a person’s “Ark Encounter” trip or their “Creation Museum” tour. We try not to cause more harm than has already been done. Exposing delusions can be painful. Unlike would-be exorcists, we are more concerned with the person than the problem.

More Than Readers

For many people reading is done for entertainment or instruction. People who often read for purposes of entertainment can get more for their efforts. They may finish a novel appreciating a new perspective. But few novels or stories ever get a second reading from us. Instructive reading has a goal at the end of it. Whether a piece is read again depends on the goal. It should not surprise anyone that the Bible is approached in either of these ways. Lay people often are confused by what they read in the Bible because it does not fit either category. They believe the Bible is supposed to give guidance on many subjects such as raising children, building wealth, or having happy marriages.

Reading takes time many people do not wish to give. They shudder as they hear again the voices of teachers asking, “Did you read the assignment?” The former youth director mentioned earlier ran into the wall most of us do when people claim what they believe to be true is in the Bible. Why does this happen? The answer is simple. When people are told everything in the Bible is good or true, they assume everything they believe to be good and true is in the Bible. The youth director ran up against people who claimed something like that.

Overcoming the Problem

Protestants believe we overcome superstitions about the Bible by teaching. But it is hard to teach people who think they already know the material. Some lay people will get interested in something they had never heard before. The story of the German soldier reading the psalms in a POW camp and discovering the God of the Hebrew people is a great story. But then a Jurgen Moltmann is an uncommon experience. The reality we face makes this easier, I think. Fewer people know anything about the Bible than did when I started ministry. We have an opportunity to reach out to people who would like to know more. We could offer public classes on the Bible and the Christian religion. These classes can be done as “adult education” courses practically every community offers. Clergy members can provide information without trying to convert people.

I recently took a class on soil building. The teachers recommended organic methods. There were some people who wanted to argue. And by the time the course ended fewer were attending than begun it because they did not like the material. Yet, it was still informative and effective. I practice some of the advised steps. I may try more later. We may have a new discipleship model in this way.