I don’t know how many times I’ve heard something like this: “So-and-so believes such-and-such, so I’m not going to read any of his books!” The idea, I think, is that if someone believes something wrong in one area, then you shouldn’t rely on what he or she has to say in other areas. Apparently the one bad area taints the rest of it all.
So, for example, N. T. Wright’s ideas about justification earn him a boycott from reformed Christians—or at least his books don’t get a decent recommendation, even the ones that have nothing to do with justification. Or, for another example, Robert Capon gets quoted on a reformed website, and emails fly in demanding that the quote be removed because of Capon’s views in an entirely different area than that which the quote addresses. Never mind that the quote in itself was a brilliant illustration of the Gospel!
This attitude is sinful.
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As we approach the new year, many of us grow in our resolve to read the Bible more. There are many existing plans for reading through the Bible in a year. Some have you reading from four places in the Bible every day. Some go through the Psalms and/or the New Testament twice. This one is meant to give you weekends off, be late with that New Year’s Resolution, allow for temporary backsliding, and take you very simply through the Old and New Testaments simultaneously. (And if you absolutely must be legalistic about it, I even gave you checkboxes.)
You can download the reading plan here. (I suggest printing this double-sided, folding to the size of a bookmark, and keeping it in your Bible.)
There are a lot of times when I feel like a pretender, and I’m afraid someone’s going to find out all about me and realize I’ve been faking this whole Christianity thing. I’m just guessing here, but there are probably a lot of Christians who feel the same way, like they’re barely scraping by in life without doing something drastically and publicly evil. And there’s a fear that, if others found out they felt this way, their world would explode with shame. They’re fearful (as am I) of being caught as Fake Christians.
If you’re one of these people, I’ve got bad news for you. And good news.
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