Making Ourselves at Home in the Bible

I had the opportunity to return to prison last week to teach a course on Great Books. I don’t have a background in the Classics, so the course represented as much of a learning opporutnity for me as it did my students. In leading them through excerpts from a number of well-known works, I developed what turned out to be a rather helpful framework for considering our relationship to literature.

1. Foreigner: You don’t speak the language or understand the customs. None of it makes much sense.

2. Raider: You’re still a foreigner, but you’re able to find a few things of value.

3. Tourist: You’ve learned your way to some of the key landmarks and you’ve picked up a couple cultural cues that help provide direction.

4. Tour Guide: Your comfortable navigating the town, you know enough of the language to get basic service, and you can help someone else who is new to keep from getting lost.

5. Citizen: Your not a native, but you know this place like its your hometown and you’ve even picked up a bit of the local accent.

It occured to me as I was teaching through the list that this might be a helpful way to consider our relationship to the Bible. Which category best describes our familiarity with the text? What would it take for you to make yourself more at home in Scripture? I’m currently leading a group of young men through the Bible Recap, which is a program I would highly recommend.