Reading Scripture Aloud

Let's talk about who reads the Scripture text out loud during your lesson or study. I wish more teachers paid attention to this!

Let's review the advantages of asking someone else to read the Bible passage:

1. They'll probably be more engaged in the lesson
2. Other people in the class might be more engaged, too

Here are the potential disadvantages:

1. They read from a different translation than you (the teacher) are using, potentially confusing people.
2. They're a poor speaker, and mumble or read the Word dully.

My recommendation for most situations (and I'll talk about two important exceptions below) is this: you (the teacher) read the main passage you are studying together. Read it well, with lots of expression. (In my book, Teach the Bible to Change Lives, I give you specific coaching on how to prepare yourself to read out loud so that your class or group gets the most from the Word.)

Then you can ask others to read single verses that are related to the text you're studying. For example, if I'm teaching Daniel, I could ask someone to read John 17:3 out loud because it isn't the main text.

This strategy ensures that the best possible reading comes for the main text, and still lets you engage people by asking them to read other verses or passages.

First exception case: when you're teaching in a small (less than 10 person) group of people that you know well, probably mostly mature believers.

A great way to handle the reading in this situation is to "read around." Ask each person in turn to read 2 verses. Or call upon people to read a short section or key verse. Because the group is small, and you can more reasonably predict what's going to happen, the method does not detract from the learning environment.

Second exception case: when you've asked a larger class to subdivide into groups for part of the time to work on different passages. (This is a great class-management strategy, which I describe in detail in my book.) Then it's ok to have one or more people in each group read aloud.

One more thing: Always makes sure Scripture is being read out loud in your classes. Don't give into any suggestions to skip this. The Word, heard, has great power.

P.S. It's a very good thing to encourage not-yet believers and seekers to read verses aloud. Our brains are engineered so that we respond powerfully to what we say, often more powerfully than to what we hear.