Okay, I know some of you are already ready to peg me as a heretic and not read any further, but I beg you to bear with me. I'm not approaching this as though I'm saying that the Bible isn't important. But I know that many Christians and pastors spend a lot of time telling people that they should read the Bible, and it's likely that many of them may not be able to explain exactly why.
Let me pose the thought in a slightly different way. When we live in a culture of high literacy, does that make us "better" Christians than the majority of Christians over the years who were unable to read God's Word? For many of them, they would simply hear the message proclaimed and then would go about their week. Many of them have likely had active prayer lives, but if you cannot read, does that mean that you are now an inferior Christian compared to those who have access and the ability to read the Bible?
I understand that there are two different kind of things going on here. Most of it is about the attitude that we have toward God's Word. An illiterate person who barely pays attention and then doesn't care about their faith life throughout the week is not all that different from a literate person who attends worship, barely pays attention, and then has access to the Bible all week, but doesn't make the most of it. Again, I realize that much of what I'm getting at in this post has more to do with attitude and motivation than it does with the actual activity of reading the Bible.
Would the illiterate person who only heard a small portion of the Word on Sunday, and then thought about it throughout the course of the week, be condemned in our eyes for their lack of biblical knowledge? I hardly think so. We would recognize that, while the situation may not be the most favorable, they are firmly clinging to the Word of God that they know.
Likewise, the literate person who hears the Word of God and then engages it throughout the week in an effort to know it better is showing that they are interested in nurturing and growing their faith life. I doubt any of us would find a cause to condemn them for their actions, since we see them clinging to the Word of God that they know. They merely have better opportunity than the illiterate person.
In the end, the Christian faith consists of much more than the printed words on the page. The Christian faith consists of Christ Jesus, God Himself, who came to redeem a humanity that was destined for destruction, and is rescued from that destruction only by His action. Sometimes the message of that rescue is told in the words on the page, and at other times, it is merely the message of what Christ has done that people have to cling to. And that is why the Christian faith is far more than simply the words of the Bible. It's not a set of words, but the Word who came from God to make us God's very own.
Let me pose the thought in a slightly different way. When we live in a culture of high literacy, does that make us "better" Christians than the majority of Christians over the years who were unable to read God's Word? For many of them, they would simply hear the message proclaimed and then would go about their week. Many of them have likely had active prayer lives, but if you cannot read, does that mean that you are now an inferior Christian compared to those who have access and the ability to read the Bible?
I understand that there are two different kind of things going on here. Most of it is about the attitude that we have toward God's Word. An illiterate person who barely pays attention and then doesn't care about their faith life throughout the week is not all that different from a literate person who attends worship, barely pays attention, and then has access to the Bible all week, but doesn't make the most of it. Again, I realize that much of what I'm getting at in this post has more to do with attitude and motivation than it does with the actual activity of reading the Bible.
Would the illiterate person who only heard a small portion of the Word on Sunday, and then thought about it throughout the course of the week, be condemned in our eyes for their lack of biblical knowledge? I hardly think so. We would recognize that, while the situation may not be the most favorable, they are firmly clinging to the Word of God that they know.
Likewise, the literate person who hears the Word of God and then engages it throughout the week in an effort to know it better is showing that they are interested in nurturing and growing their faith life. I doubt any of us would find a cause to condemn them for their actions, since we see them clinging to the Word of God that they know. They merely have better opportunity than the illiterate person.
In the end, the Christian faith consists of much more than the printed words on the page. The Christian faith consists of Christ Jesus, God Himself, who came to redeem a humanity that was destined for destruction, and is rescued from that destruction only by His action. Sometimes the message of that rescue is told in the words on the page, and at other times, it is merely the message of what Christ has done that people have to cling to. And that is why the Christian faith is far more than simply the words of the Bible. It's not a set of words, but the Word who came from God to make us God's very own.
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