What is the 30 Day Shred?
I first heard of the 30 Day Shred from our Student Pastor, Darik Kooistra. The idea is to read the entire Bible in 30 days. This idea sparked an interest in me immediately. A few months prior, I had read a book by Loren Cunningham, The Book That Transforms Nations, and I had the idea of having us read the entire Bible out loud as the commissioning of the second floor of the Hub (which will serve primarily as our discipleship and training floor). The idea was to do this in June but it wasn’t going to work with our construction schedule. This idea of the 30 Day Shred quickly resonated with me, however, I knew there were very few who could actually make such a commitment. So I decided why not have people form groups? Then, as a group, conquer the 30 Day Shred during the month of June – sign up as a family, as a growth group, or as a bunch of friends, etc. The result has been spectacular! Here are some quick wins!
Shred Wins:
1. Approachable – If you are new to reading The Bible or haven’t read for a long time – you had a reason to engage without being intimidated. Some of the weight that people feel when it comes to reading the Bible is removed.
2. Scaleable – You could commit at different levels. In our family my eight year old daughter was able to participate and take on some of the shorter books while other family members read through the longer books of the Bible.
3. Connecting – I have some friends who participated in the Shred together, and they said almost everyday they would get a text update on a book that one of them had finished followed by a bunch of Emoji responses cheering them on.
4. Achievable – The idea of reading the entire Bible in a month is crazy (although Darik pulled it off) but with a group of friends it becomes quite winnable.
5. Accountable – Knowing you have a part to play but that it doesn’t totally depend on you is a great motivator. Being on a team holds you accountable to reading.
6. Reading The Bible – This is the biggest win! Yes, quality often matters more than quantity, but the word is powerful, and I love finding new ways to encourage people to read their Bible. People read books of the Bible they have never read before. I had one guy say – I never knew Leviticus was a love story. WHAT? But yes!
I can’t wait for next June – I’m thinking we are going to do this again!
