At last, the obvious

Sometimes a new idea is just so obvious that you can only wonder why no-one ever thought of it before.

For example, why did it take so long for someone to invent the ‘multi-position pillow’ to solve the thorny issue of what you do with the underneath arm when you are lying on your side? This particular work of genius is a contoured pillow with various cut-outs to allow you to lie on your arm, without cutting off the blood supply to your extremities. Although there’s now a slight problem: you also need a bed that’s about a foot longer to accommodate your outstretched arm, nestled snugly underneath your pillow.

Likewise, we can only shake our heads as to why it took so long for someone to invent the lockable biscuit jar, the treadmill desk, the remote control with built-in bottle opener, the soy-sauce dispensing chopsticks, and of course the Snuggie.

I guess sometimes the obvious takes a while to dawn on us.

That’s certainly how we’re thinking about You, Me and the Bible, a new resource from Matthias Media that we should have come up with years ago. It’s a very simple concept that came as a result of the following thought process:

• We know that Two Ways to Live is a brilliantly clear summary of the biblical gospel in six key points that is known and trusted all over the world.
• A growing number of people are finding that there’s no better way to share the gospel with someone than simply opening up the Bible and reading it with them one-to-one.
• So why not come up with a way for people to work through the six key ideas of Two ways to live by simply reading Bible passages with a friend?
• (Smacks forehead.)

That’s what You, Me and the Bible is and does. It’s Two Ways to Live meets One-to-one Bible Reading. As the subtitle says, it’s a ‘reading guide to the six central ideas of the Bible’.

Each of the six parts has two shortish passages from different parts of the Bible, with some discussion-starter questions for each one to get the conversation moving. There’s also an optional summary video for each part, that can be accessed online for free to help wrap up the conversation and tie the threads together.

And that’s about it—a simple, easy-to-use resource that you can use in a number of different ways. The two most obvious uses are:

• As a personal follow-up tool for newcomers or after a mission or evangelistic program of some kind—when someone would benefit from going through the basic points of the gospel and talking them through one-to-one.
• As a relatively easy way to take a first step with a friend or family member you’ve been talking with. “Look, we’ve talked a few times about God and stuff. I’m just wondering if you’ve ever had a chance to actually read the Bible for yourself. I’ve got this new thing called You, Me and the Bible that would help us do that together. You interested?”

In fact, to help break the ice and invite your friends to read the Bible with you, we’ve also produced some short light-hearted videos that you can share on social media or via email.

So what’s the next obvious thing to do? I guess it would be to check out the videos, take a look at some sample pages, and generally find out more by going to matthiasmedia.com/ymb.