How to Create a Church Culture that Loves Bible Study

The evangelical tradition that gives me the most courage to be Protestant in this 500th anniversary of the Reformation is our emphasis on personal Bible study.

But how do you create a church culture that truly loves Bible study?

Faithlife has just released Logos 7 Basic, a new free version of Logos Bible Software. Not only is this the perfect introduction to Logos for pastors and church leaders, it’s something you can put in the hands of your people. It’s a tool that can help you create a Bible-study-loving culture in your church.

Here are three ways how.

Logos 7 Basic reinforces good Bible study skills

In-depth Bible study won’t be second nature to everyone in your church. They’ll need assistance—preferably before they get stranded in Leviticus.

Logos Basic includes two free courses on how to study the Bible. The courses take Bible readers through Observation, Interpretation, and Application of Matthew 4 and Jonah 1, respectively—using the tools in Logos.

Pastors and professors love these courses, too. The best way to learn Logos, at any level of proficiency, is to do so as part of genuine Bible study. Logos Basic provides the best way for pastors themselves to get started with Logos at no cost.

Logos 7 Basic encourages Bible study habits

If you want your people to “delight in the law of the Lord” on their own, you have to remind them to do it. Assume daily Bible reading is a shared value until it becomes and remains one. Make self-consciously regular references to it from the pulpit.

And instead of handing out a Bible reading plan on cardstock this year, send your church members a link to Logos Basic. With Basic, you can choose from dozens of reading plans or customize your own. You can even set up daily reminders: the Logos app on my iPad told me to read Jeremiah 6–9 this morning.

Logos 7 Basic helps you move from Bible reading to Bible study

Good Bible study often entails reading books other than the Bible. Paul tells the Ephesian church that pastors and teachers are a gift to Christ’s body, to help them grow to Christ-like maturity (Eph. 4:11–16).

Logos 7 Basic includes a small collection of Bible study resources that will get your members going in the right direction. There are a couple of English Bible translations, a Bible dictionary, a commentary, and some devotional works. There are also search features and other tools that help Christians move from Bible reading to Bible study.

Get Logos Bible Software for free

Glenn Paauw opens his Saving the Bible from Ourselves with a bracing comment about evangelicals and Scripture:

There is more guilt about secret noncompliance with Bible-reading standards in the self-proclaimed Bible-believing community than there is gratitude for promises realized.

If there is a soft underbelly to evangelical biblicism, we can’t ignore it—because that chink in our armor is where the dragon will get us. Maintaining our allegiance to the enduring authority of the Christian Scriptures is worth continued effort and innovation.

We can help create a Bible study culture if we provide the encouragement and tools people need to dig into the Word for themselves. Help your congregation experience the rewards of Bible study. Get Logos 7 Basic, and encourage your church to do the same.