Week Three Topic:
Character Development
This week’s outcome:
To understand the ways characters are portrayed in the Biblical narrative, providing opportunity to alter our cultural lenses making the characters more relatable.
Home
5 mins
Take a couple minutes to pause and clear your mind and let go of what may be filling your heart and mind. Allow God to remind you that you are at home in Him and His immense love for you. He doesn’t need anything else from you right now – just your stillness.
Watch
6 mins
Video ► How to read the Bible – Character | Bible Project
Dig In
20 mins
Tim Mackie said in the video that this ancient text does not provide the same cues for character development that modern writers tend to use.
“Biblical authors avoid giving moral commentary. Instead, they use words/actions to reveal motives and leave the reader to make a judgement.”
Some cues the authors use to tell us about the characters are:
physical descriptors
symbolic names
limited commentary
Understanding the ways characters are written in the biblical narrative, provides us with an opportunity to alter our cultural lenses. The invitation is to come to the scriptures with these cues to enjoy the adventure of discovery instead of waiting to be told what to think.
Discussion ► By actively choosing to alter our culturally formed framework of understanding character formation, we have an opportunity to expand our expectations and receive fresh revelation about humanity. Discuss.
We often like to simplify things into black and white to make a judgement. However, as Tim said biblical characters cannot be categorised so simply. Why? Because “they are realistic portraits of compromised people like us”.
Question ► How does that alter the perspective you hold of yourself and those in your life?
Isn’t it interesting that despite the complexities and differences between Biblical characters, there is a repeated theme in the narrative? At some point, we as humans come to the end of ourselves, we fail. We are all then faced with a choice, to trust in God’s love and grace for us or continue in our own strength.
Question ► How does this truth speak into your life today?
Action
15 mins
Using the book of the Bible your Huddle is currently reading through, take the time to apply the cues above to the text to identify and define the main characters in that book.