Lutheran Theology: How Do Lutherans Read the Bible?

I just finished Lutheran Theology: How Do Lutherans Read the Bible?, the second of seven webinars being put on by the ELCA Youth Ministry Network and ELCA Youth Gathering. The free webinars are intended to "equip adults to do excellent ministry with young people." Dr. Jeremy Myers, a professor at Augsburg College, conducted the webinar.

Sometimes we can miss the forest for the trees when using the Bible with our youth. We want them to "know" a particular story, but the real goal is to invite them into a life-transforming story. We must have a handle on the narrative of the Bible as well as the narrative of the lives of youth to encourage a dialogical reading of the Bible, using it as a conversation partner for contemporary concerns.

Five key principles/questions of a Lutheran reading of the Bible:

1. Law & Gospel - "How does this verse reveal my brokenness and how does it offer me healing & hope?"
2. Showing forth Christ - "How do I see Christ in this verse?"
3. Scripture interprets scripture - "How does this verse connect to the overall Biblical story?"
4. Plain meaning of text - "How were people expected to understand this verse in the first place?"
5. Public interpretation - "How might someone in a completely different life-situation interpret this verse?"

Myers suggested reading the theme scripture of the 2012 Youth Gathering, Ephesians 2:14-20, through each lens as a good exercise.

A few practical suggestions for using the Bible as faith formation:

• Lectio Divina, a prayerful/meditative reading of scripture. Ask kids to pay attention to a particular phrase that catches their attention. Have them ponder, "How might this phrase be good news for me today?"
• Book of Faith Project apparently has a lot of resources.
• Read the Bible in other places than home and church. Think the mall or a workplace. Ask yourself, "What might this mean to people here?"
• Find out what kind of stories youth are already interested in.

I said it before and will say it again: these Practical Discipleship webinars are great! They're free and as close as your computer. I would highly recommend them if you work or volunteer with young people in any capacity. Here is a list of the upcoming webinars.