ESPN radio personality Colin Cowherd — I’ve said before that I want to preach like he does radio — has what he calls the “say it out loud test.”
It’s this: if you want to decide if something is a good idea or not, say it out loud. When you say it out loud, it will make you come face to face with the implications of the idea. Terrell Owens to the Buffalo Bills? Say it out loud. Allen Iverson to the Memphis Grizzlies? Say it out loud.
Well, much more than Colin Cowherd realizes or cares about, the “out loud” logic applies to reading Scripture.
The books of the Bible were not written with leather-bound study editions in mind. They weren’t written with the printing press in mind!
They were written to be read out loud. In the midst of the worshipping community.
Which is why as we journey through the book of Proverbs as a church in the month of January, I’m reading a chapter a day out loud. (Today, being January 6th, I read Proverbs 6.)
Reading out loud forces you to pay attention. It confronts you with the sound of the words. It prevents your mind from wandering and your eyes from skimming.
It brings you face to face with the ideas presented in the text.
And reading Proverbs out loud lets you know that the ideas it contains pass the say it out loud test with flying colors.