I’ve been a member of Bible Study Fellowship, off and on, for more than 20 years. I claim 3rd gen status. My grandmother attended after her conversion, even working in the children’s program. And my mother attended once her younger kids were in high school. I began when my oldest could attend the children’s program.
Miss Johnson, the founder of the organization, was single, a missionary to China, and as straight an arrow as you could hope to find. Her guidelines for leaders and students were, to say the least, a bit strict. No pants for women, no Pentecostal or Catholic group leaders, no divorcees. When I was asked to lead a group in the 20teens, I was a bit surprised. My teaching leader delightfully told me, that they now acknowledged that speaking in tongues was indeed a gift from the Holy Spirit.
I wasn’t entirely sure how to react to that.
Do I thank them or roll my eyes. I’d known this fact for decades. I swallowed my immediate reaction of, “ya think?”, and accepted their invitation. Not because I had a hunger to be a group leader, but because the study that year was new and interesting to me, and I looked forward to studying it with women who were serious about it. Leaders tended to be more participatory than students. The study was titled:
Revelation and the Persecuted Church
Miss Johnson’s BSF consisted of 5 major studies to be rotated each year, and studied simultaneously around the world. They consisted of Genesis, Matthew, Minor Prophets, John, and Life and Letters of Paul. If you went through all the studies, you would touch all the books of the Bible at some point.
In the 90’s, new leadership brought new studies. Moses and the Exodus, Isaiah, Romans and Revelation. I’ve done all but Romans and Isaiah. They revised the Minor Prophets to become, The Exile and Return, so I joined an online group to experience the newer version of that study.
It was awesome!
I was placed with a leader from Kenya, along with many other African women. There were a few Americans, some living abroad, others in country. The group was at least 20+ members but on any given day we averaged about 8-10. And boy were they serious about their study. I have loved being in mixed culture Christian environments. Our years in Chicago were enormously rewarding. Studying with women from other countries provided an even more enlightening experience in the faith.
Could these women pray or what?!
There was a measure of respect, awe and reverence among these women. My African American lady friends in Chicago were powerful pray-ers. They’d been taking their needs to God for a long time, with a confidence that was often missing from my white evangelical experience. I decided I could use a few lessons in how to pray from them. The same was true for this group. Sometimes I think American Christians are prone to take for granted the grace and holiness of God.
Not these women!
Grace was something they were constantly thankful for and in awe of. God’s holiness was nothing to dismiss lightly, and their awareness of their own need in the face of his lovingkindness was always present.
For me it was water on thirsty soil.
Hiccups were common for me. Sometimes I had time changes, and I’d show up an hour early or late. The link to join the meeting wasn’t as easy to find as anticipated. I wearied of the ‘application’ jump in questions. *Pet Peeve* (Sometimes I think we’re too quick to draw an application from a set of verses. I appreciate that Scripture is for training to become more like Jesus but it simply isn’t always about me).
I so enjoyed the community that grew from a zoom gathering across the world. I loved making them laugh, and bringing my American mindset to the mix. My perspective wasn’t always as reverent as theirs.
For example…when studying the book of Daniel and his dreams, we dipped into the verses in Revelation that describe the woman who rides the beast. I’ve long felt that the KJV (and some of the more current translations) of Scripture was misogynistic. I mean, they blamed Eve for Adam’s sin for a couple thousand years! The things they did to women because of their understanding of Scripture was often, horrific. So when we discussed this section I tossed out this one…
“I’m getting a little tired of Scripture always blaming women for the evils of humanity”
To which one of our African ladies said,
“You and me both Sister”
A few eyes popped, but we all laughed.
I’m eagerly anticipating this year’s study,
Romans
Paul has an abiding place in my heart. I fell in love with him in High School. We memorized large portions of his writings and pieces of them are still in my recall. So I’m looking forward to taking apart Romans and exploring its theology.
Until then I’m hanging out with devotionals, and reading through Paul’s letters. And trying to keep Bruce from overdoing during his shoulder recovery.
It’s a big job, especially now that he’s 70.
His new parts are promising a better working order for his shoulder. Hopefully for many years to come.
Leave a Reply