International
(MNN) — Psychology research shows that while it takes just an average of 28 days
to form a new habit, to get it to become automatic takes nearly 8 weeks.
Biblica
is interested in using that approach to creating a godly habit: reading
the Bible.
Paul Caminiti is Biblica's Vice
President for Bible Engagement. He says some recent research had alarming
implications. "Our best estimate is that 700 people give up reading
the Bible every single day."
This is obviously a shift that has
gradually taken place, but Caminiti notes that they're not going to accept
those reports. "If we were in any other industry, and we found out that
700 people were giving up on our product or our program, we'd be alarmed."
That information was the basis of a
new program that has been recently launched, but had nearly a decade of thought
behind it. "We began asking the
question, 'How did this happen, this 700 people?' It certainly isn't a lack of education. People are as literate as they've ever been, and it certainly isn't the lack of
Bibles."
As they sought answers, Caminiti says they discovered something else. "We've inadvertently developed some
bad habits in the way that we think about the Bible, and way that we read the Bible.
We read the Bible in fragments; we read the Bible outside of its context; we
read the Bible as if it were a modern book; and then, we read the Bible in
isolation."
How
to turn that around? How could Biblica
help engage believers with Scripture again without falling into old
habits? The answer: by creating new
ones. "We began asking and
re-imagining what a 'new normal' would look like. Over time, we came up with
what we call the 'Three C's of Bible Engagement' — The Complete story, understood in Context, and
experienced in Community."
The next question was: How could they
get people to stick with this discipline for the eight weeks required to get
the habit ingrained? "We created a
new Bible text that is called The Books
of the Bible. We created a different order for the books that makes more
sense. But then, we didn't stop there. We created a revolutionary approach that
we call 'Community Bible Experience.'"
Biblica also freshened the approach to
Community. "We kind of jettisoned
the traditional Bible study approach with a participants guide and six or seven
questions. Ours is much more of a book
club approach, and lo and behold, people love it."
Engaging
Scripture shouldn't be rocket science. With this new approach, people have seen God's story unfold on the page
and in their hearts — as it was meant to be.
The Books of the Bible covers the New
Testament, but once that's done, Caminiti says, "Why not complete the journey?" Old
Testament campaigns are available, too. See our Featured Links section for details.
