Guest Blog

Readers are Leaders: Buy a Boy a Book! Change a Life

Readers are Leaders: Buy a Boy a Book, Change a Life

Writing To An Illiterate Culture by Phil Niekerk

Several months ago, I was part of a retreat where I was introduced to a small group discussion method called Storying. Storying is an age-old method of passing on biblical stories orally. This method has been incredibly important in underdeveloped nations where people can’t read, as well as places where the Bible has been banned. The basic premise of Storying is learning to tell a biblical story accurately but in your own words in such a way that others remember it and are able to tell it to others. This made incredible sense to me as a great way of passing on the Gospel globally; but I was unsure why it would be important in America, let alone in my church and town. I live in a highly educated, professional community where the Bible is easily available. We have the Bible in all shapes, sizes and flavors and we have people who are well equipped to read it. Why spend time with this? These statistics helped me understand why:

14% of Americans are considered functionally illiterate, meaning they cannot read well enough to function productively in a school or work environment.
29% of Americans are low-level, functionally literate. They read only enough to do their job and get through the day.
44% of Americans are highly functionally literate but prefer to get most of their information orally. They’d rather hear than see important or interesting information.
That leaves 13% of people who prefer to get information through the written word.

I don’t know what it does to you as a writer to see that 87% of Americans cannot read, or choose not to read, beyond what they need to survive. Eighty seven percent of your possible audience either can’t read or don’t like to read. I’m betting that some of you might be getting a bit upset with these numbers. You may want to try to discredit the statistics. You may even want to get upset with our culture and blame things like technology, TV, texting and other media sources that limit people’s attention span. I get it. You’re right. But this is the reality that we, as writers, have to work within in our culture today. If this is true, will people actually read? Because I write in a church setting, I need to pay close attention to these numbers. All these categories are represented in my audience. So, here are four things I consider when I write:

Get to the point

Since many of my readers read from computer screens, iPads or smart phones, I need to be aware that if I don’t hook them early, they may not scroll down to read the rest of my good stuff. I need to engage them early, even emotionally. I need to create a tension in the first few sentences that compels them to read on.

Ask good questions

Good questions engage the heart. They create discussions, reflections and thinking that go beyond just finding information. Even more importantly, questions can provoke growth because they demand the reader to consider the implications of the material they are reading.

Challenge the Cultural Norms

With all this said, sometimes our illiterate culture needs to be challenged to step out of their lazy reading habits. This fall, our church is asking the entire congregation (middle school and up) to read the New Testament in eight weeks. This is an aggressive plan that will take an average reader 30 minutes a day for five days a week. The aforementioned statistics indicate that this could be a disastrous venture. People could resist, get discouraged or even quit. However, the only way to build a positive habit is to challenge barriers and to exercise new routines. Sometimes I think we ask too little of people because our culture tells us something contrary. Pick your battles, then push the norms.

 

Phil Niekerk is Small Group Pastor at Ada Bible Church