3 good reasons to read Eugene Peterson’s The Message Bible
Reading the Bible has, if not always, then most of the time been a very refreshing activity for me. There have been seasons where it’s been a bit of a hazzel. Where I moved from a place of wanting to read, to a place of should read. This is when reading the Bible becomes a religious activity.
My faith in God has never felt “religious”, in the form of various activity that I should or need to do. It’s always been relational. (I know that’s something we Christians always say, but it’s true.)
Taking an active step towards faith in Jesus always has tangible results. It’s just a matter of having the eyes to see those results. Be it something as simple, yet impacting as peace. Or, joy. In this way, the activities the Christian life evokes, be it prayer or reading Scripture, is always giving.
Eugene Peterson finished his translation of the Bible, The Message, in 2002. Or rather, a paraphrase of the Bible. For those familiar with Scripture, reading The Message in its contemporary language catches you a bit off guard. It’s familiar, yet written in such a way that the familiar sounds new.
The first time I read The Message was from one of my flatmates back in 2009. Back then, only the New Testament was out and my housemate had a copy. It felt like I was reading the letters of Paul for the first time. I was hearing these Pauline letters so differently than what I was used to it felt like an eye opener.
I remember the first letter I read was Pauls letter to the Ephesians. What a treat!
Eugene Peterson passed 22nd October 2019. A number of tributes and eulogies were written by many well known pastors and Christian leaders. Hillsong founder and pastor, Brian Houston, tweeted that “God has used your exceptional writing skills to deepen and revitalise the spiritual lives of many.”
Christianity Today, the magazine founded by Billy Graham, wrote that Peterson “has completed his ‘long obedience in the same direction’.”
The Message has sold over 20 million copies. Eugene Peterson wrote 35 books, not counting The Message since, in his own words, “it’s not my book.”
It shows us that the work of a human being can have an extraordinary impact on the world. Not that all of us can paraphrase our own version of the Bible, but we can contribute by being ourselves.
Just be you!
A statement that Peterson himself continues to come back to in some of his most recent interviews before his passing (which can be found at NaviPress YouTube channel here).
It’s been years since I read The Message for the first time. For the past months I’ve been looking to get a new copy of the Bible. Finally coming over the version I wanted, I have in some ways rediscovered Peterson’s The Message.
So, here follows three good and lighthearted reasons why you also should read The Message!
Number 1: Because Bono reads it!
26th of April 2016 Fuller Studio published a short documentary with U2s lead vocalist, Bono, and Eugene Peterson. Here, Bono expresses his passion for The Message and reading Scripture.
It’s a fascinating conversation between two influential persons who are very different, and yet have so much in common on so many levels.
Number 2: Because it’s easy to read
Approaching Scripture has never been easier. Listen to this:
“Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.”
“Learn the unforced rhythms of grace…”
Number 3: Because it gives more than it takes
Approaching the Bible as the life-giving book it is, fill you up more than anything else.
Find out what passages of Scripture especially moves you. Be it the Gospels, the Pauline letters, or in Bono’s case, the Psalms.
Read it, let it speak to you and let it fill you up.
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