We spend the majority of our lives living out bad theology, most of the time not even cognizant of the fact that we are completely off base. How sad that the well-intentioned person can very well lead a misinformed and unproductive life. Why? Because we don’t read the Bible anymore. I am so thankful for Augustine and Calvin and Luther who have written volumes on the Scripture and for the modern men who have devoted their lives to its study. But somewhere along the line in the new millennium – pun intentional, (puns always intentional for future reference) we lost the Bible.
We had an explosion of books coming off the presses about the Bible…about Christianity…about Christian counseling and songs, fashion, fads, culture, and books. lots of books. Then topics that I am so over with started detonating – tradition, and homosexuality and why generation whatever-the-letter-is-I’m-living-in is leaving the church and “Ten ways this couple lived out their faith. (You’ll never believe number 7!).” And we abandoned this compilation of holy and inspired literature (The Bible, in case you had forgotten the name) in this explosion of “good.”
How often in our churches do we conduct a Bible study from a book about the Bible or do our devotional reading from a book about the Bible. We teach our kids about the Bible. We pick a side of who’s our favorite preacher or song leader; we quote, post, tweet and retweet the wittiest sayings from popular preachers and music artists. And before we know it, we’re listening to our favorite Christian radio station on the way to work in the mornings, going to a friend’s house and attending a Bible study about a book written by a Christian author; we’re listening to sermons about how to have a successful marriage and we’ve never even picked up the Word of God. We’ve never consulted the Bible with how we should live or how we should raise our family. We’ve consulted our favorite, popular preacher and taken his advice.
Have we forgotten the Bible exists? The Bible is our only source for knowledge and truth. Without it, we are lifeless. We are wanderers. We are life-wasters. We are fools. I am thankful for godly men; for pastors, for authors, for song writers, but they are not Christ. and if we are not careful, they steal our attention with their enchanting qualities and their ability to connect.
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