Scripture readers at my church, Sargent Avenue Mennonite in Winnipeg, Man., sometimes conclude with the exclamation, “the Word of the Lord.” The congregation often adds, “praise be to God.”

This was not a common practice in my church in the past and probably not in many other Mennonite churches either.

It is the established practice of the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, the Lutheran Church and the United Church of Canada, according to several sources.

This fact alone should not keep us from using such expressions. We should be open to new ways of worshiping.

But we should be aware of what we’re changing and why. I am concerned that our use of “the Word of the Lord” is the thin edge of a wedge that will lead us to misunderstand what the Bible is saying.

Differing attitudes

This expression is a ritual exclamation used in Christian denominations whose attitudes toward the relationship between Scripture and the individual believer have been very different than that of our Mennonite heritage. The Protestant Reformation happened, in part, because some of the Catholic community saw the importance of reading Scripture for themselves, translating it from Latin to their own languages and reading it alone or together, rather than having the priests tell them what it meant.

This made the church nervous because it raised the possibility of disagreement.

The exclamation, “the Word of the Lord,” comes from a time when the Catholic Church would tell people what the Bible meant.

Historically, the Anabaptists were known as “people of the Book.” They were intensely engaged with Scripture, but this did not mean they felt bound to a literal interpretation. It was the role of the priesthood of all believers to discern God’s will.

Modified account

Would we feel comfortable saying “the Word of the Lord” in response to all passages of the Bible, including those that are violent and unjust? Would we like to say it in response to Psalm 137:9, where the psalmist praises grabbing an infant by its heels and smashing its head against a rock?

We might want to argue that the New Testament, especially the Gospels, with their accounts of what Jesus said, are one place we can comfortably say “the Word of the Lord.” But again, we must confront a kind of literalism here. Unless we believe someone was following Jesus around and copying down what he said, we receive a modified account even here.

Many Christians believe the Bible is the literal, infallible Word of God. Others believe the Bible is inspired, but some parts are more important than others. Anabaptists say all Scripture is to be interpreted through Christ. This means some passages are more important than others.

We don’t need to believe in the literal Word of God to hear God’s voice.

The way Christians have read and proclaimed “the Word of the Lord” for over a millennium has contributed to the Christian faith’s loss of credibility. Does this motivate us to explore new ways of reading the Bible?

God speaks to us through the Bible. But we need to do more than say “the Word of the Lord” after a reading. We need to help each other interpret what it means. Are we willing to do this?

Written for the newsletter of Sargent Avenue Mennonite Church and reprinted from Canadian Mennonite.