The Power of Four

Have you noticed that a lot more people have a Bible than actually read one? A key discovery of The Center for Bible Engagement is that the life of someone who engages Scripture four or more times a week looks radically different from the life of a person who doesn’t (“The Power of 4”). ⁱ

And American Bible Society research indicates that this difference includes higher human flourishing scores. More frequent Bible use and greater flourishing go together. Reading Scripture isn’t just about becoming a smarter Christian; it’s good for people—and essential for becoming a better person.

Even more than just reading Scripture, memorizing biblical passages has been shown to have significant mental health and fitness benefits—in addition to its contribution to growth in godliness and closeness to God. And these good things are amplified when reading the Bible together with other people. ⁱⁱ

i.   BTW–reading the Bible four times a week can also malform human character, if we read it to be ‘spiritual’ or ‘right’ or able to out-argue other people. The most important rule I’ve heard when it comes to reading Scripture is to read it in a repentant spirit.

ii.   The older I get, the more helpful I find this practice. Mihalyi Czikszentmihalyi’s initial book FLOW included almost a whole chapter on how essential memorization of choice passages is to human flourishing. It was practiced much more in the ancient world than it is today. Why?—Because people had nothing better to do! Now we do! We can binge-watch and doom-scroll!