The Formation We Need: Scripture, Understanding, and the Life of the Church
Churches of Christ have long been known for their commitment to Scripture. That commitment has shaped preaching, worship, and the shared life of congregations for generations. It reflects a deeply held conviction:
that the church is not guided by human preference or tradition alone, but by the word of God.
That commitment remains one of the church’s greatest strengths.
At the same time, it invites an important question—one that is not always asked directly: what does it mean to be formed by Scripture in a sustained and thoughtful way?
Scripture and Formation
Scripture is not given merely to settle questions or establish boundaries, though it certainly does both. It is also given to form a people—to shape how they understand, how they live, and how they grow together over time.
To be formed by Scripture is to be shaped not only in what one believes, but in how one reads, how one reasons, and how one discerns what is good, true, and faithful. It involves learning to see the world through the language and patterns of Scripture itself.
This kind of formation does not happen automatically. It develops over time through teaching, reflection, and shared engagement with the text.
Familiarity and Depth
In many congregations, Scripture is read frequently and with sincerity. Passages are studied, memorized, and discussed. This familiarity is a genuine strength. It reflects a desire to remain close to the text and to take its authority seriously.
At the same time, familiarity does not always lead to depth of understanding.
Reading Scripture often is not the same as being formed by it in a sustained and integrated way. Without careful attention to how meaning is shaped—by language, context, literary form, and the broader witness of Scripture—interpretation can remain at the level of surface recognition rather than deep comprehension.
This is not a matter of neglect or lack of concern. It is often the result of how interpretive formation has developed within the life of the church.
Familiarity and Formation
The Shape of Interpretive Formation
Over time, many congregations have relied on patterns of reasoning that emphasize clarity, consistency, and shared understanding. These patterns have helped the church read Scripture together and make decisions with confidence.
They have also made Scripture accessible. Members can follow the reasoning, participate in discussion, and feel a sense of continuity with what has been taught before.
These are real strengths, and they should not be set aside.
At the same time, these patterns do not always cultivate the full range of skills needed for sustained engagement with Scripture. Questions about historical setting, literary form, the development of the canon, and the relationship between passages are not always explored in depth. As a result, the interpretive framework available within congregational life can remain narrower than the text itself invites.
Where this happens, Scripture may be read regularly, yet not always engaged in ways that develop deeper understanding over time.
Understanding as a Shared Work
Interpretive formation is not an individual task alone. It is something that happens within the life of the church.
Preachers, elders, teachers, and members all contribute to how Scripture is understood and applied. The habits of reading, the kinds of questions that are asked, and the ways conclusions are drawn all shape the interpretive life of the congregation.
Where these habits are strong, the church grows in clarity and unity. Where they are limited, growth in understanding may be slower or uneven.
This is not a cause for concern so much as an invitation. It points to the importance of teaching not only what Scripture says, but how it is to be read and understood.
Toward Deeper Engagement
What might deeper formation in Scripture look like?
It would include continued commitment to the authority of Scripture, along with a growing attentiveness to the ways meaning is shaped within the text. This includes attention to:
- the language of Scripture and how words function in context
- the historical settings in which texts were written
- the literary forms through which meaning is conveyed
- the way individual passages contribute to the larger witness of Scripture
It would also involve reading Scripture as a whole—recognizing connections, themes, and patterns that extend across individual books and passages.
Such engagement does not replace familiar ways of reading. It builds on them, extending and deepening the church’s understanding.
The Role of Teaching
Teaching plays a central role in this process.
Those who teach Scripture are not only communicating conclusions; they are shaping how others learn to read. The questions they ask, the details they highlight, and the connections they draw all contribute to the formation of the congregation.
Where teaching includes attention to context, language, and the broader scope of Scripture, it helps cultivate habits of thoughtful reading. Over time, these habits become part of the shared life of the church.
This kind of teaching does not require specialized language or technical terminology. It requires clarity, patience, and a willingness to guide others into a deeper engagement with the text.
Growth and Continuity
It is important to emphasize that deeper formation is not a departure from what has been received.
The commitment to Scripture, the desire for clarity, and the concern for unity that have long characterized Churches of Christ remain essential. These are not obstacles to growth; they are the foundation on which growth takes place.
The task, therefore, is not to replace earlier approaches, but to carry them forward—to allow them to mature as the church continues to engage Scripture with care and attention.
Growth and continuity belong together.
Growth and Continuity Belong Together
A Constructive Vision
When interpretive formation is strengthened, several things begin to take shape.
Understanding becomes more coherent. Passages are not only known, but connected. Teaching becomes more rooted in the text itself, and less dependent on isolated conclusions.
Leadership is supported by a deeper reservoir of understanding, allowing decisions to be made with greater clarity and confidence.
Most importantly, the church is shaped more fully by Scripture. Its life, its practices, and its shared understanding reflect not only familiarity with the text, but a sustained engagement with its meaning.
Conclusion
The life of the church has always been tied to Scripture. That remains true today.
The opportunity before Churches of Christ is not to reconsider that commitment, but to deepen it—to give attention not only to what Scripture says, but to how it forms those who read it.
A church shaped deeply by Scripture is not only a church that reads the Bible, but one that understands it, lives it, and is continually formed by it.
In this way, the work of the church continues: hearing the word of God, growing in understanding, and living together in faithful response.