GODFULNESS:
A Step-by-Step Guide to Bible Meditation
By Derek Leaf
Navigators UK. 28 pages. £4.50
ISBN 978 1 900 964 272
I had a striking encounter with a Navigator once. He was brilliant. This boy was very much a card-carrying member of Navigators. I remember being extremely envious of his gigantic memory of all sorts of Bible passages.
However, my experience of meeting this guy did make me feel a bit like it was a an insiders club, and I was left thinking it was ‘all or nothing’ – ’either you sign up to Navigators and learn vast swathes of Scripture, or you don’t, and your Bible memorisation is nil.’ I’m sure that’s not the impression Navigators intend to give, but it was the impression I got.
This book is published by the UK branch and as I looked at the cover and read the blurb I was left with those same ‘outsider’ feelings again. I felt again like the Navigators were saying to me ‘Our club has the only correct methodology, you must sign up or fail!’
Take the author’s testimony for example, ‘after coming to faith he didn’t grow much as a Christian... until he went to university and met the Navigators.’
Where's the church?
This theme is repeated in the book. We read no positive mention of the local church. The author speaks of moving house and not being able to relate to people from any church, but then ‘being put in contact with a Navigator group’ and that was like ‘coming home’ (p.27).
At best, anyone who picks up this book will be encouraged to go to the Bible, which is great. But as a guide to meditation, this book is too divorced from a biblical view of the local church for me to recommend it.
Bible meditation is an essential Christian practice, but for a thorough guide I would instead direct you to listen to some of Joel Beeke’s lectures on Puritan meditation which can be found on Sermon Audio.
