May I share a pet peeve of mine? It drives me crazy when I'm watching a biblical sermon and the person sharing says, "I am going to read scripture XYZ but don't worry about turning there in your bibles..."
REALLY? Oh, I do know some of the rationalizations. We project the verses on-screen for the ease and convenience of those who forgot their bibles, for guests, or to save time. Some say it's for the elder who can no longer read a bible due to their failing eye sight. Well, maybe...but overall, should we really be encouraging others not to read along in their bible? Yeah, that makes this 'Berean' cringe! [Acts 17:11]
Most of us have heard lessons where the believers are encouraged to spiritually eat solid food and not just milk. [1 Cor. 3:2, Hebrews 5: 12 & 14] But then instead of handing them a "fork" to dig in for themselves, believers are handed a "bottle of milk," fed on-screen scripture and a canned sermon created by some other guy. (no need to pretend like we can't tell when a message has no new, original thoughts on the scriptures... anyway, I digress.)
This opinion is simply drawn from my personal observations that those who are the most spiritually happy and continually growing over the long haul are people who activity engage during their relationship with God. [Whether at home or at church during service]
If statistically, around 65% of the population are visual learners, 30% auditory, and 5% learn kinesthetically, should we really streamline one of the engaging parts, like reading in your own bible? And no matter what, let's not just sit back and let someone plop a bottle in our mouths! Maybe we should be patient and encourage people to turn to the scriptures themselves? I mean, it is important we know where to find them, right? And if a guest or fellow Christian does not have a bible with them, can't we offer to lean over and share ours? Do we really consider this courtesy too old school? And even if someone says, "you don't have to turn there in your bibles..." maybe you should really TURN THERE IN YOUR BIBLE or your electronic device! :)
Anyway, by definition, this pet peeve is technically a minor annoyance but it is something I was reflecting on during my drive to work so, who knows, it may be a topic others want to reflect on as well.
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In case you are curious, here's an interesting table on Dominant Learning Styles:
| Characteristic | Learn by | Instructors should use for emphasis | Instructor should use for reinforcement | Action words | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visual (about 65% of the population) | Visual learners need to see what they are learning | Watching, Reading | Charts, bold colors/patterns, outlines | Writing notes, concept maps, graphics | See, look, draw | ||
| Auditory (about 30% of the population) | Auditory learners need to hear when they are learning | Listening, Discussing | Key ideas through voice inflections, tones | Speaking aloud | Hear, say, speak | ||
| Kinesthetic (about 5% of the population) | Kinesthetic learners need to move around while learning | Doing, Being physically involved | Analogies, anecdotes, examples | Writing on flip charts and simulating tasks | Feel, do, demonstrate |