Do What With the Bible?

I’ve been wrestling recently about discipleship. I think this is the most important aspect of a church and one I’m sorry to say I’ve missed in my previous churches. I think a lot about what a disciple should look like in Austin in 2008. 2010. 2025? I believe discipleship starts by confessing Christ and Bible study plays a large role in their growth, but what role should Graceland play? Jesus said “go and makes disciples,” what does that mean in my context?

So I was reading this week and something a theologian said has me thinking and I don’t know my answer. I wonder if others could chime in and give their thoughts? In his book, Unleashing the Scripture: Freeing the Bible from Captivity to America, Stanley Hauerwas writes:

Most North American Christians assume that they have a right, if not an obligation, to read the Bible. I challenge that assumption. No task is more important than for the Church to take the Bible out of the hands of individual Christians in North America. North American Christians are trained to believe that they are capable of reading the Bible without spiritual and moral transformation. They read the Bible not as Christians, not as a people set apart, but as democratic citizens who think their “common sense” is sufficient to “understanding” the Scripture. They feel no need to stand under a truthful community to be told how to read. Instead they assume that they have all the “religious experience” necessary to know what the Bible is about.

Before all the comments come posting let me say I don’t know what to think. On one side I disagree, I value the Bible open and translated for my study. I credit my spiritual growth to reading scripture. I like the fact someone can challenge the truth I extract and offer their “opinion” on text. The other side I agree – the Bible isn’t open to democratic voting and “common sense.” Their most be a truth-bearing community to help our spiritual growth and moral transformation. Community is Accountability.

Discipleship:

What role should the Bible play in discipleship today (remember New Testament believers didn’t have a personal copy of the Torah…it was taught to them as boys)?

Who should help the new believer wrestle with scriptures that bring confusion (i.e. pluck out your eye, cut off your hand, etc)?

How much understanding should be left to “common sense” and “religious experience”?

Each person has their own story and experiences. I can’t expect them to look, read, walk, act like me. How do I disciple people to find themselves in Christ so they are Jesus in John Does skin?