Something got me thinking about Bible memorization programs in youth ministry yesterday, and my initial reaction towards them was negative. I wasn’t sure exactly why, so I thought about it for a while and came up with some reasons why I’m not a fan:
- Memorization does not equal maturity or discipleship. I’ve written before about the narcissism of Christian education, and how it equates education and facts with discipleship, when obviously that’s not the case. Bible memorization is in the same league. Just because one student memorizes five verses and the other memorizes one hundred one should not be elevated over the other, but that is almost always the case.
- Memorization elevates certain kinds of students over and above other. How well will a student with dyslexia or ADHD be able to memorize anything, let alone the Bible? Or what about people that just don’t memorize things well? I am one of those people. I am not good at memorizing dates, facts, and isolated tidbits. Unfortunately, since these Bible memorization programs usually do elevate the students who memorize the most, those who do not are relegated to second class status.
- Memorization is not equivalent to “hiding your word in my heart.” Psalm 119:11 is often cited as a reason why we should memorize scripture and conduct Bible memorization programs: “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” The key word in this verse is heart, not head. Memorization does nothing to ensure that God’s word makes it into the hearts of our students. How many students memorize things for a test at school, but have not hidden them in their heart?
- Most memorization programs are reward-driven competitions. Memorize X verses and get Y. The best prizes come for memorizing the most verses. There are all sorts of theological problems with reward-driven discipleship programs. Simply replace prizes like Nintendo Wiis and iPods with cash payouts and you’ll see the beginning of the problems.
- Memorization is not a historical spiritual discipline. Quite simply, individual scripture memorization was nearly impossible in the early church. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t memorize scripture, but it is to say that it is not a cornerstone of the faith like preaching, prayer, baptism, and communion. If it was possible to be a Christian for hundreds of years without memorizing scripture, then it still is.
- Memorization removes scripture from historical tradition and literary context. One of my fears is that, especially in cases where students memorize isolated verses, we are teaching poor methods of scripture interpretation by de-contextualizing scripture. Bible memorization also divorces scripture from its historical and communal context, leaving scripture as a matter for the individual.
- This guy. He’s memorized over 100 chapters of the New Testament. See the video below for an example of the fruit of his labors.
Alright, my flame suit is on, fire away.
Well done, Matt…per usual. Were you inspired by the Twitter exchange between @timschmoyer and @adamlehman yesterday?
My old congregation used to participate in the annual Bible Bowl, a competition of Biblical knowledge between the local churches. Each youth minister / pastor was allowed to submit 25 questions for the various rounds of the contests. It was interesting to see the different scope and tone of the questions. Some were very specific, bordering on obscure (how old was Melchizedek when he died)…others were more general (what is the greatest commandment, according to Jesus). To nobody’s surprise the Evangelical Free Church won the contest. The big controversy was that the Lutherans beat the Baptists. The small town was talking about it for weeks. This might have been a bigger upset than if Rice beat Texas in football.
Of course, the underlying issue was which youth group (and, by extension, which denomination) was more faithful in their devotion to reading and memorizing Scripture. Many of these people equated rote knowledge with discipleship. The aforementioned Baptist group was ashamed at “losing” the contest, as though the were no longer worthy of God’s love. Just silly…
Anyway, thanks for the excellent post!
Yeah, Adam and Tim got me thinking about it.
You’re right, Bible quizzes tend to fall in the same category as memorization programs.
Matt,
Well said! I particularly resonate with your reason #6 – memorization negates context! Couldn’t be more true!
How many times have i heard “God helps those who helps themselves, the Bible says, I just don’t know where…”
By removing the need to actually READ the text as a text you let things seep into the text that don’t belong there.
Kids (and adults) think they know what the text says but when push comes to shove they can’t find (and sometimes don’t know how to find) the passages they think they are quoting!
Thanks for putting this out there!
Anne, thanks for chiming in.
while i agree on almost every point, it seems that you are against a certain type of scripture memorization. perhaps the incarnation of it that we often see can be destructive, but having God’s Word memorized is not harmful.
i think there is a certain value in having inward digestion of god’s word and being able to reflect on it without having the printed word in front of you.
a reimagining is due, but not a total chuck out the window.
While I agree with your points I also wonder. I hear from our pastors who time and again find those who have their memory stolen by Alzheimer’s, yet they remember verses of scripture memorized long ago. How else do we carry scripture with us in a way that means we can access it when the web goes down, we are getting no signal, and we don’t have a bible?
Rote memorization is useless by itself. It’s just information. But when you engage those memorized texts, when you think about them, when they become real to you…then the text is written on our hearts. Yes, one verse is not the whole of scripture and yes we need to keep the Word in context. But is there not some value in just taking the time to encounter the Word in this way? And if, as I believe, the Holy Spirit works in and through the Word to strengthen/bring faith then this might even be of benefit.
All that to say, I agree, but……
Great stuff Matt. I was trying not to get into a twitter tirade yesterday because those end up coming across – usually – fruitless and uncivil because of the 140 character limit.
The more I thought about it the more and more I have to agree that it seems a dangerous road to travel. Theologically, I’m right with ya. When being a disciple turns into a financially sound move, we’ve lost the point.
But practically speaking – i think we run into the problem that is at the heart of the North American church problem.
What are we perpetuating? (If I write a book, this will be the main thrust).
You see – those who justify rewards for discipleship have – what I think are – accurate assumptions that it will be “beneficial” for the individual who ends up memorizing. However, the benefit to that individual is – in my opinion – sharply overshadowed by the negative message sent to everyone else (those who didn’t participate but knew about the contest, those who participate but don’t win, and those who simply hear about the story second hand). Those in the wake of what appeared to be a God-centered, well-founded exercise end up getting a very bitter, misguided view of what Jesus/Church/Youth Group/Discipleship is all about. You’ve helped one teenager get some truth stuck in his head, but you’re also getting a dozen/hundreds/thousands of people who are given a false image of Christ’s Body.
Is it worth it?
I’d say no.
You’re definitely onto it. The issue isn’t really the value of scripture, but the commodification of Christianity.
ps. great video. 🙂
Don’t be an ass. The guy in the video has ZERO to do with memorizing bible verses. It’s a non-sequitir. Also, bible memorization is essential. The Jews did it. They memorized the entire Pentateuch. I don’t get why you are against this as someone who is in ministry. It makes no sense. How can we apply the Word if we don’t know it?
True. Jews memorized the Penteteuch.
You can apply the word without memorizing it. You can also memorizing it without “knowing” it. This is pretty obvious as Jesus seemed to continually correct those things that the Jews had memorized.
ps. great way to jump into a debate with “don’t be an ass”
Sorry, I guess the humor didn’t come across. I know that memorizing the Bible doesn’t lead to people hating Barack Obama and yelling at people to get out of their church.
And, I’m arguing against the commodification of Christianity, not simply knowing your Bible. Memorizing verses does not equal knowing the narrative.
For the confirmation program that we developed (Confirm not Conform–shameless plug), everyone is asked to memorize 10 verses of Scripture. This isn’t random, however. They meet with their mentors and think about themes that are important to them. Then they look up that theme in a concordance. Then they narrow it down and talk with the rector about their choice. After they’ve made their choice, they’re given lots of techniques for how to memorize things. Finally, whether or not they choose to be confirmed, everyone recites the passage they have memorized in front of the congregation and follows it with a teaching, explaining what this passage means to them.
I saw this for the first time last spring, and I’m here to tell you, it was mighty powerful stuff. One young woman was struggling with the gossip culture at her school; she found a passage on gossip. Another young woman had decided not to be confirmed because she didn’t believe in God; she memorized an entire chapter of Esther who was, as she explained it, “a strong woman in a book of the Bible that doesn’t talk about God.”
I absolutely agree with your posting, but I have also now seen that there are other ways for youth to memorize Scripture besides competitively.
Thanks for the comments. Yeah, the competitive nature of most programs is one of the main reasons why I’m not an advocate for them.
Matt,
I really enjoyed this post. I agree with what you have to say about Bible memorization and the competitive nature it has taken in some churches today. I’m with you in that I was never great at memorizing things. Never have been, never will be…and that doesn’t bother me. Some people are geared for it and some aren’t. Simple as that.
I have seen that certain students are given more praise and respect for being able to memorize more scripture than others. That is not how it should be.
The major point that I agree with is that “Memorization does not equal maturity or discipleship.” I’ve been in youth ministry for about 6 years now and I’ve had too many encounters with people who think that because they know more scripture than others, that that makes them more mature or a better disciple. That’s crap!
Lastly, I got the humor of the anti-Obama preacher! haha.
– paulg
I dunno Matt. Just seems like there are more important things to get out of YM than Bible memory. I can’t think of a single time having large chunks of Scripture in my head has hurt me. But I can think of plenty of times where it has helped me big time. (Not in a preachy way, more in a “I need to remind myself of ___” kind of way.)
I actually don’t think your #5 is true. The way I understand church history, memorizing Scripture (aka oral tradition) was pretty key for large portions of human history. I agree with you that there isn’t a mandate to memorize Scripture. But, clearly, many of the phrases and sayings of Jesus were repeated/memorized then recorded as exhibited throughout the epistles.
How about 7 reasons to get rid of games in YM?
As evidenced by some of the comments, I wasn’t clear enough. Pretty much I’m not a fan of ministry programs that are significantly based off of Bible memorization because usually they are highly competitive and de-contextualize scripture. I’m not on a crusade against Awana or anything, I was just trying to articulate why I’ve never been drawn to such programs.
Of course there are ways to help our students learn the scriptures without making some of those errors. Of course Christians need to know scripture. I’m not saying that we don’t.
Also, oral tradition tended to be more concerned with narratives, not individual verses.
There might be more important things, but there are also less important things, too.
With respect, your rational fails to persuade. Memorization of Scripture is a valuable aid to individual and group discipleship. Regardless of what one might be doing, memorized Scripture is immediate available to one for reflective though. Further memorized Scripture is available for ministry when the need for immediacy precludes looking at a Bible or laptop.
Believers are not uniform. It is right to encourage all believers to grow in the grace, knowledge and love of Jesus. Not all will be able to do all things equally. But that is no excuse to fail to encourage all to grow to the fullest extent possible. And while praise can be misused, the parable of the talents demonstrates that faithfulness in effort is to be praised. One would have to conclude that not encouraging believers to try would be as condemned as the servant who failed to try.
As used by the Psalmist, “heart” refers to the seat of the emotions… where we make decisions… ie., “our want to.” In that sense, hiding God’s Word in our heart makes perfect sense. Memorization of Scripture “hides” the Word in the “heart” of the believer. This is proven by the ongoing life results that follow as children as well as adults are challenged by and live out the principles of Scripture that they have “hidden” in their “hearts.”
If one finds rewards problematic, the most simple solution is to eliminate the rewards. Rewards are not a uniform component to all approaches to encouraging the memorization of Scripture. Recognition, by certificate, public recognition, scholarships, plaques and even financial gifts are regularly used to lift up and celebrate significant commitment and contribution to work as varied as evangelism, social ministry, music ministry, youth ministry, congregational life, etc. It is equally legitimate to use the same measures as a means by which to motivate people to memorize Scripture. The results of that memorization of Scripture are arguably equal if not superior to the concrete results of the ministries enumerated. The results of those ministries are under girded by and would be contracted by the absence of Scripture hidden in the heart of the Believer.
It is arguable that memorization is a historical spiritual discipline. For the Bible that Jesus read was the one He hid in His heart. It is the Bible that He quoted when debating with Satan. It is the Bible he quoted when preaching on the Mountain top. It is the Bible that He cited when He acted to heal on the Sabbath, forgive the sin of sinners and even when He gave his life on the Cross. It was Scripture hidden in the heart of the Apostles that was cited as foundational for their evangelical and social outreach. In a oral world, Scripture hidden in the heart of the Believer was a critical to effective ministry. We no longer live in a world where we must try to grasp the truth of Scripture via stained glass windows. We are not restricted to a priest reading Scripture in a foreign language. Our is the delightful heritage of Gutenberg as Scripture has been made accessible to even the individual level. Scripture was foundational to the Reformation. It is foundational to any reformation of life or society. No reformation of either will proceed without it.
Memorization of Scripture does not take place in isolation from the community of faith. Few Believers retreat to the equivalent of Walden’s pond to immerse themselves in Scripture. Yet as with John the Baptist, Paul, the Apostle John and even our Lord Jesus, such isolated and intense study of Scripture might be most effective in providing a broad and substantial foundation for effective ministry. In the context of the local congregation, there is a place for individual to arrive at his/her own conclusions as to the truth and implications of Scripture. As with Paul’s grasp of grace in evangelizing Gentiles unrestrained by Jewish traditions of food, etc., such individual conclusions drawn from Scripture are not uncommonly the means by which the Gospel is advanced.
As far as the video provided, it brings to mind a particular pastor of some many years experience who used extreme language to express his displeasure with what he saw as inadequacies in our nation. If memory serves, the President was a member of that church. He rightly rejected such statements. Oddly there were those who came to the defense of that pastor and sought to excuse his remarks.
In conclusion, 30 years of personal experience at the local congregational level in ministry with both adults and children has demonstrated the immediate and long term positive results of a consistent emphasis on the memorization of Scripture. These benefits are notable in congregational life and the work of ministry in evangelism, worship, benevolence and social action. Memorizing of Scripture is immediately accessible, easily implemented and offers demonstrated effectiveness in building the local congregation through evangelism, worship, benevolence and social work.
It’s too bad so many people seem to have missed the general thesis of this post. I never felt that you were saying that people shouldn’t memorize Scripture. I gathered that you were opposed to the ways in which youth ministers go about creating ministry programs, incentives, and contests that divide the “good Christians” from the “bad Christians”. There’s nothing wrong with memorizing Scripture…but there are a lot of things wrong with how people in ministry approach it. Thanks for having the courage to offer a contrarian viewpoint on such a controversial topic.
I get what you’re saying, but I have to say that I feel scripture memorization has it’s uses. Imagine if all of a sudden you’re in a place where the Word of God is forbidden (thank God that here in America we don’t have that problem) or maybe a famine of the Word of God suddenly is realized and it’s illegal to possess a Bible, wouldn’t it be nice to know that you have the Word of God hidden in your mind/heart where you could access it at will??
Was doing research on memorizing scripture and found this article. No flame-suit needed my friend. The video certainly enhanced your argument. How can a pastor who says, “Get the hell out of my church,” and over-reacts to somebody questioning his message have the love of God in him?
I’m not very good at scripture memorization and I’m working on it, but I’ve met people in Bible studies who have a wonderful grasp of scripture and hermeneutics but seem to miss the simple message of love and grace. I believe scripture memorization is important, but it should not be an end-all-be-all measure of spirituality.
Memorization should be encouraged. I’ll stand on that because of the fruit I’ve seen it produce in my own life. For example, I memorize my poetry, and after I do, I’m able to grasp it better, share it with others better in a more effective way, even minister to people with it on the spot. After I memorized Ephesians 4, I was able to grasp it and understand it better, and make way wayyy more cross references with other scriptures while reading the Bible. I’m also able to follow it better too, because the wording of it is in my mind and pops up when it’s needed.
Also, we live in a world where people constantly try to twist the scripture and misquote it to mislead people about what the Bible says. Often I’ll catch them and can say, “No, that’s not what it says. It says…” If you don’t know the scripture, someone can change a word on you and therefore change a whole meaning and confuse you or others.
Also, when ministering to others, it helps to share the Bible with them. They’ll listen to you say it, but sometimes the moment you actually pull out a Bible and start flipping pages they put up their guards and refuse to listen or either use your page-turning time against you by talking and starting into a different topic or distract you from finding it.
After memorizing my poetry, I did a 2 hour stand-up performance where people paid to get in and stayed the whole time, and enjoyed it. But it’d be really hard to get someone to stand there and listen to me while I read 15 minutes of poetry off of paper. The same as you’re not going to watch a movie if the actors have not memorized their lines, and are reading it off of a paper script. Let’s be frank, that’s not going to fly! In fact, that actor is not going to even get the part, regardless of how much they complain they’re not being treated fairly because they have a memorizing disability. If you have a memorizing disability, then I’m sure the Lord has gifted you for some other area of ministry that doesn’t require it. But don’t let me catch you singing along word for word with your favorite song.
It almost seems like the Devil’s argument to try to discourage people from memorizing scripture. The real problem is that enough people don’t read it in the first place. If you find someone willing to memorize it, for Christ’s sake, don’t discourage them. And if you do discourage them, then you should be encouraging them to carry their Bibles around with them everywhere they go, even to the bathroom. You wouldn’t tell a samurai to go without his sword, would you?
This is a very interesting post. I think the title is a little confusing as I don’t believe the author means memorising scripture is bad but the way in which it is done can be less helpful! I guess my point is that the whole topic is very ‘negative’. Personally after I critisise something, i like to leave with a postitve thought-a way in which things can be altered so that they are point back towards Jesus in a good way. So in this post it is clear many people have gained much from memorising scripture.
Perhaps the post should of been called something like ‘How Scripture Memory Programmes can be used in Youth Ministry’- a much more positive title – in that you could still say how it could be done wrong but lets look at the glass being half full here and see that God is moving in the Youth of THIS generation!
Youth curriculums need to be inclusive and teach to all learning styles/souls. A dyslexic learner with completely normal IQ needs tactile/multi-sensory methods. Rote memory curriculums are elitist and groom conformers. Brainwashed by scriptures is not the same as circumcision of the Heart from scriptures. As of this writing, Awana and Kids for Truth need to alter their curriculums and support the whole church community. The actions of many churches to continually “shun” dyslexic learners” is an assault on their soul, self esteem, and confidence which can affect their perspective of grace and relationship with our heavenly Father.
Thanks for your comment! I don’t have any first hand knowledge with the programs you speak of, but shunning dyslexic learners is a temptation. I agree, it’s not a reflection of the kingdom! I’m sorry if you or anyone you know and love as been hurt by this.