{"id":11777,"date":"2022-05-10T16:35:08","date_gmt":"2022-05-10T16:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/?p=11777"},"modified":"2022-05-27T20:39:43","modified_gmt":"2022-05-27T20:39:43","slug":"on-moses-messiahs-and-memorizing-scripture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2022\/05\/on-moses-messiahs-and-memorizing-scripture\/","title":{"rendered":"On Moses, Messiahs, and Memorizing Scripture"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Stewarding a Christian publishing program will mess with your head if you let it. You find yourself (well, I find myself) imagining a desired future for the people of God. And it becomes frighteningly easy for you (me) to assume a kind of messianic posture toward God\u2019s people: \u201cY\u2019all need to get on board with my compelling vision for the future of Christian discipleship! You\u2019ll thank me when you do!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe it\u2019s a Mosaic posture. That feels slightly less sacrilegious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For would-be messiahs and Moseses, personal integrity is (or should be) important. \u201cDo as I say, not as I do\u201d is not only unacceptable, it\u2019s ineffective. Very few people will follow hypocrites, at least not with zeal. Zealots quickly tire of hypocrites. And zealots are the footsoldiers of any grassroots movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My particular hypocrisy at this particular moment is Scripture memorization<\/a>. I represent an organization for which memorizing Scripture is foundational. I represent a publishing program which has championed Scripture memory from our very beginning. We publish authors who have said outright that the best, most effective way of experiencing spiritual transformation is to commit Scripture passages to memory. Get it in you, the logic goes, and it will inevitably work its way through you and out of you into your world. It\u2019s a good logic. I believe in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I just haven\u2019t really done it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d say that I can\u2019t memorize Scripture, but that beggars belief. I\u2019ve memorized pretty much every single line of Ferris Bueller\u2019s Day Off. <\/em>I have a rabbinical recall of lyrics by musicians from the Beatles to Taylor Swift. (Don\u2019t judge me.) I memorize important dates, phone numbers, PINs, what have you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Scripture? For whatever reason, I\u2019ve struggled to make it stick. I have been known to take the long way from my office to our common kitchen so I\u2019ll avoid bumping into my friend Roy because I knew he\u2019d ask me how it\u2019s going memorizing the Beatitudes. And you can\u2019t really tell somebody, \u201cStop bugging me about memorizing Scripture\u201d when it was your idea in the first place. Roy\u2019s being helpful; I\u2019m being avoidant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So then, what is the proper course of action for somebody with a mandate for memorizing Scripture, a messiah\/Moses complex, and a demonstrably unreliable memory to do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If at first you don\u2019t succeed, try, try again. That may or may not be in the Bible. It\u2019s probably not, since I seem to have memorized it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m going to post here every now and then to give you all an update on how it\u2019s going adopting the habit of committing the messages of the Bible to memory. This will undoubtedly be equal parts celebration and confession<\/a>. But confession is good for the soul, supposedly, and celebration is always worthwhile. And maybe together we can crack the code about how to get the Word of God in us so it do its good work on us and through us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"David<\/figure>
David Zimmerman<\/span>

serves as the NavPress publisher. He leads the team in acquiring and developing new NavPress resources and building on the strength of a robust backlist catalog, including the bestselling\u00a0Message\u00a0<\/em>Bible.<\/p>\n

More from David<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stewarding a Christian publishing program will mess with your head if you let it. You find yourself (well, I find myself) imagining a desired future for the people of God. And it becomes frighteningly easy for you (me) to assume … <\/p>\n

Read moreOn Moses, Messiahs, and Memorizing Scripture<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":11779,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[149],"yoast_head":"\nOn Moses, Messiahs, and Memorizing Scripture | The Disciplemaker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A reflection on the difficulty of memorizing Scripture, why it is worthwhile, and the importance of accountability.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2022\/05\/on-moses-messiahs-and-memorizing-scripture\/\" 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