We are in the midst of a sermon series at Faith Church called “Back to Worship” in which we are thinking about the nature of Christian worship. The hope of the series is to make us aware that worship is much more than just the weekly gathering of God’s people (and more than the singing portion of such gatherings). At the same time, we need to recognize that it is difficult to worship God with all of our lives if gathering in worship and engaging in all the elements of these gatherings is not something we do on a regular basis. In fact, if we choose to not gather for worship, we may need to examine whether or not we are worshiping someone/something other than God since we made a conscious decision to not gather for worship with fellow believers.

I’ve often heard people say that they don’t need to gather with others for worship because they can read God’s Word and pray on their own. Those  practices certainly can (and should) be a part of our daily lives, but they should not come at the expense of gathered worship as we are commanded to regularly gather with other believers to engage each other (Hebrews 10:24-25). In fact, numerous studies over the years have shown that there is a correlation between church attendance and Bible reading. For example, a 2017 study showed that 39% percent of those who attend church at least once a month  read the Bible each day while only 13% of those who did not attend read their Bible daily. A study during the height of the social distancing measurements of this coronavirus pandemic showed the same thing, as it indicated that many people who had been regularly reading their Bibles before the pandemic did not during this time in which there was less opportunity to gather in-person in worship. Those numbers seemed to have rebounded – and maybe even increased a bit – when people returned to in-person worship in the year following, as a 2021 study showed that people were turning to their Bibles, perhaps due to the combination of the numerous challenges we continued to face alongside the ability to gather in worship. 

While there seems to be a direct correlation between gathering for worship and reading the Bible, there are certainly other contributing factors. This was proved even more evident in the American Bible Society’s recently released 2022 State of the Bible Study, which I read through. You can find all the information at https://sotb.research.bible/, but I wanted to highlight for you a few of the findings I found most remarkable.

The Bad News
The study showed that the increase in Bible reading that seemed to have happened in 2021 has not only been lost, but that there has been a decrease in Bible reading compared to pre-pandemic levels. Forty-nine percent of Americans read the Bible at least 3-4 times a year on their own in 2019, but that number in 2022 decreased to 39%, indicating that 20 million less people were reading their Bible. (It is even more stark compared to 2021, when 50% of people read the Bible – a number that represents 25 million more people than were reading in 2022.) Not only were less people reading their Bibles, but they were less engaged in their Bibles in that the frequency, impact, and importance of the Bible for Bible users had decreased. The study notes this: “In 2022, Americans are less likely than ever before to say that the Bible is influencing the way they live out their faith in relationship to others” (page xvi of the Study). Thus, it seems that the return to a somewhat “normal” life has not only squeezed out the practice of Bible reading but also its importance in people’s lives. 

The Good News
While church leaders are likely discouraged by these statistics about Bible reading and engagement, the report also featured some good news. Interestingly, it notes that people were more likely to say that their Bible reading has stayed the same (almost three-quarters of the people) or that it has increased (13%) rather than decreased (10%). The study interprets this data as meaning the decline is more likely “a drift than a protest” as “people are reading the Bible less frequently than before, but apparently most of them haven’t been aware of it” (p. 18). In addition, the study notes that around two-thirds of those who seldom read the Bible still say that they are curious about it. This means that people may still be open to Bible reading, but just need to be given some extra motivation and maybe even some tools to start. Such an openness would seem confirmed by the biggest reasons people cited for not reading the Bible; it was not the content of the Bible that presented the biggest obstacles, but rather not having enough time, not knowing where to start, or not feeling excited about it. 

The other bit of good news the study revealed is that there is a difference between those engaged with the Bible and those who are not. Those who fall into the study’s definition of “Scripture Engaged” score higher than those who are in the “Movable Middle” or “Bible Disengaged” in the Human Flourishing index – the “Scripture Engaged” are 8.0 while the “Movable Middle” are 7.1 and “Disengaged” are 6.7. This index takes into account things like happiness and life satisfaction, mental and physical health, meaning and purpose in life, character and virtue, and close social relationships. Not only do those who engage the Bible score higher on the overall index, but almost higher in each individual area. The only area in which there is not this difference between those engaged in the Bible and those who are not is in the realm of financial and material stability (which is not factored into the Human Flourishing Index), and even that is very close as those engaged in the Bible scored 6.1 while those disengaged were at 6.2. It seems less likely to me that these differences stem from the mere act of reading the Bible, but rather from listening to its message and letting it affect one’s life. These findings reflect the validity of the promises found in Scripture that those who put its word into practice will have a better life (Psalm 1; John 10:10). 

Your News
My hope in sharing the trends discovered in this study was to make you ponder your own relationship with the Bible. Do you find yourself more or less engaged with Scripture, remembering that engagement is not just frequency of reading Scripture but also its impact and centrality in life? Maybe you sense it has diminished in the past year. If so, why? If it has, it is my hope that this “Back to Worship” series not only sparked more fervent engagement in worship gatherings but also deeper engagement with the Bible so that you can worship God more each day. And if it has not, hopefully this is a reminder of the importance of keeping it that way. Find the time to read and reflect on God’s Word. Find a plan (if you need one, check out our 4 Year Bible Reading Plan or the various plans in the YouVersion App). Know that it will help you draw closer to God and live the life that God has designed for you.

Let’s get back to worship and back to the Bible because as we get back to the Bible, we get back to worship….and as we get back to worship, we get back to the Bible. 

Questions about the Bible or theology? Email them to Pastor Brian at Theology@WeAreFaith.org. You can also request to receive weekly emails with our blog posts by filling out the information on the right side.