I tried a half-dozen times to come up with a really catchy, sensational beginning for this post and I didn’t like any of them. So I’m not going to insult your intelligence, and just tell you what I mean to tell you.

I’ve been thinking about this space.

And I’ve made a decision.

Not the kind of decision you make from thinking and praying about something, though. It was the kind of decision that seems to be making itself for you, and all you have to do is take a step back and notice it charging you. That way you can call it a “decision,” I suppose, just before it mows you down and you call it a “disaster.”

Timing is everything. Or so my mother likes to say.

I’ve read a couple books, visited a couple websites, prayed a few prayers, heard a few sermons, roughly planned 12 months of student ministry, sat in several meetings, and read at least a dozen blogs and articles that have all led to this decision. Individually, they were harmless; collectively they were charging me.

Western Christians today don’t know the Bible. And it’s becoming a crisis.

More than that, I’m starting to wonder if Western Christians know how to read their Bibles, never-mind studying them. I’m starting to wonder if Western Christians believe in the Bible, or if part of our lethargy about it comes from the belief that we’ll probably just be disappointed by it.

Disclaimer: I’m not a scholar. I’ve never taken a single collegiate class on any aspect of our faith. I haven’t even been a Christian for a decade. I’m sure that a year from now, I’ll have a better idea of how little I know.

Which is why I, of all people, should not be able to argue from the scriptures against a portion of a pastor’s book. I should not be able to explain, from scripture, what a preacher couldn’t explain in his own sermon. I should not be the one defying an “evangelist” who Tweet-ed a link to the “Contradictions in the Bible” poster with no further commentary than, “You have to admit it’s interesting.”

After discovering that my frustration with yet another book isn’t the author as much as it is his audience, I realized what I do have.

I have a great church that teaches the Word. I have great pastors who know the Bible, continue to study the Bible, preach the Bible, teach the Bible, and – best of all – believe the Bible. I also have a dorky attraction to study and research. All of this, I want to share with you.

This space, at least for 2011, is becoming Bible-study space.

I love social justice, personal discipleship, student ministry, gardening, etc., but it all lives or dies on the Word. (More on this idea Friday.)

We have to do better. For ourselves and for our dying world, we have to do better.

If you know this stuff – help me. Start your own blog and teach people, or write for us here. Hang around and expand, correct, etc. in the comments. Post links.

There won’t be much room for easy, surface-level comments. There won’t be many catchy, “How to” or “Five steps” headlines. There won’t be many clear calls-to-action. Basically, we’re violating almost all of conventional how-to-write-for-a-blog wisdom, but we need to go there.

If you’re not convinced, come back tomorrow and let me try to persuade you one more time.

Thoughts? Wanna come with me?