Dwell's Missed Opportunity

Dwell, you grossly missed a grand opportunity with your Melodic Line daily devotional.

I use and enjoy the Dwell app for listening to the Bible. I've used it for years. I was excited about this one-year devotional called The Melodic Line. In the ramp-up to the start of the devotional, Tripp Prince's promotional information discussed how "each book contributes its own melody to the overarching theme." Prince defines the melodic line by writing, "The Melodic Line is designed to guide you through these key movements and themes of the Bible. Each passage has been carefully selected to highlight the major points of the Bible's storyline, helping you see the bigger picture." This sounded great.

The Charles Simeon Trust has been teaching a principle called the Melodica Line for years. They say, "Just as every song has a unique melody, every book of the Bible has a unique message." The point is that key themes run through the book, and when we understand the book's big idea, we better interpret specific passages. In addition, the Bible has key themes throughout the book. It's one story. (Here's a discussion of the melodic lines of Luke and Acts, and even a melodic line of both books taken together. Click here.)

With the Charles Simeon Trust teaching of the melodic line in my mind, I was thrilled to go through key passages of the Bible to see the major themes of the Bible. I hoped each book's melodic line might be more apparent through the Dwell reading plan.

Boy, was I wrong!

Instead, Dwell used the title, "The Melodic Line" to sound artistic and cool while missing any meaning in the name. The first devotional (by John) was a slow reading of a handful of verses from Genesis 1 and then a rapid jump to a spiritualized application void of any anchor to the meaning of the Text. It was simply an excuse for an artistic reflection of the self. The second devotional by Jessika was the same. How unfortunate.

While I'm still using the Dwell app and greatly appreciate the reading plans, I won't be visiting "The Melodic Line" daily devotional again. In the meantime, I'll continue to pray for a one-year plan that shows the more significant themes of the entire Bible while exposing the Charles Simeon Trust idea of the Melodic Line of each book. Now, that would be a great plan!