Being A Christian: It Means More Than Owning a Bible
Guest article by Don Dudley, keynote blogger at YouSeeDryBones.com.
I own books. Let me explain.
I own a history book. I can look in it and learn all about the people who lived in the ancient Sumerian culture. There are early samples of their writings like the epic known as Ishtar’s Descent into the Netherworld. How awesome is that? In the appendix it shows how cuneiform evolved into Hebrew and later Greek.
However, I am not an ancient history scholar.
I have a diet book. It’s all about getting good abs. It shows me how to eat correctly and what exercises I can do to have a sweet upper body. It has a special chapter devoted to building “explosive” speed by correctly developing my muscles.
Judging by my waistline, I am not a body builder.
Another awesome book I own is called The Blair Handbook. It is an extensive volume to help writers know the grammatical rules. This book includes sections on how to notate academic papers in MLA and APA.
Despite this, I can barely spell my own name and homonyms trip me up.
Oh, I also own a Bible.
I can count 12 Bibles in front of me. I have Bible Works 7 software on my computer so I can look up those Greek words I don’t know, and I have Logos on my iPod Touch.
I love to read my Bible(s). There are great things in there about history, dieting, and if you have a King Jimmy, you have access to a beautifully written book.
Not only do I have more than a dozen Bibles, I have books to help me understand the culture in which they were written, the original languages of the authors, and the correct ways to exegete text to enable proper hermeneutics.
I have numerous books about the Cross, the most beautiful thing ever to happen in human history.
I have books containing maps, dictionaries, and several books by John Piper.
It doesn’t mean jack.
It all counts for nothing if I don’t understand that the true meaning of the Bible is Jesus. It is Him who changes hearts and lives.
We can have libraries of books and speak in “Christian-ease,” but who really cares if we have not been radically regenerated by the Holy Spirit?
A professor of mine went to the Congo on a long-term mission trip. They brought a Bible crudely translated into the language of the natives at the lowest common reading level (that of a 10-year-old). It spawned a revival like we have not seen since that of the Great Awakening.
That’s because it affected their hearts.
If it stops at your head, you will probably choke on it and die. I hope.
So many think owning a Bible and boldly reading it in public makes Jesus love us.
As a result, our path to salvation comes through as being an over-bearing pain in the… sorry, I thought this was my site. I won’t finish that last sentence. [editor's note: Thank you, Don]
The Bible has no magic powers and it is NOT a book of spells.
Just owning it does not make us a little Gandolf who can run around speaking in words we don’t even use any more (seriously, I know a person who has used “mortification of the flesh” in their day-to-day speech as if everyone in the room knew what they were talking about. FYI, John Owen has been dead for years, people don’t talk like that anymore…sorry, soap box again).
The Bible is not a history book or a diet book. The intent and purpose of the Bible is not so we can live the easy life. It is not, I repeat, NOT a self-help manual.
And for the record, it is not a rule book, but a book about the One who rules.
The Bible is God’s word.
Owning a Bible and reading it does not the Christian make (yea, I went Yoda on you, what of it?).
The Bible is a book which tells us of God’s redemption of all humans despite the fact they continually reject Him.
The Bible penetrates our hearts by breaking them for the King of the World who was crucified because we have porn addictions and beat our wives.
The Bible is the very acts of God recorded by the power of the Holy Spirit in a story of love, mercy, and liberty. A true story of anger, wrath and judgment. A story of a savior who loved us so much He would die in our place on the Cross for our sin.
It is the very words of the Son of God, who came into human history as a man so we could shove a spear in His side, but who saves us in spite of this.
It is a living book, an active book. By reading it, we are privileged to learn about the God who wants to be in close relationship with us, the way He designed it before man screwed it all up.
Hotel rooms have Bibles. Some of the most intelligent atheists in the world own and have read a Bible. If all it took was owning a Bible and reading it, the world would be a different place.
It takes the saving power of Jesus, by grace alone, through the Holy Spirit to draw us unto God the Father.
Praise be to God. Amen.
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I was in the process of writing one of my usual big, flowery statements on this subject. But as I wrote, one line really stood out in the paragraph and drew my eye to it. It kept pulling me back, moving me to read and re-read it over and over. I don’t even really remember typing it out in the first place:
“His Word is His promise of trust and counsel, it’s His guarantee that He will not forsake you or deceive you. Most importantly, it is His marriage contract to His Bride.”
Forget all the flowery statements. I’m letting that one sit on its own.
That is such a powerful and at the same time beautiful truth.
Think about it: Contract.
It’s signed. It will be fulfilled to the fullest.
Praise God!
It still gives me goosebumps thinking about it. I hope I never lose that!
Don, I love what you have done in this post. You’ve challenged us with making our profession of Christianity authentic whether or not we own a Bible. I think sometimes we use our bibles as a way to show people we are “good” or something. Excellent post brother. Thanks!
It gives me the blessed assurance that I will spend Eternity in Heaven and escape eternal separation from God. Phleger Christ
This is the blessed assurance, isn’t it?
Well said, Phleger
With all of the promises God makes for those who abide in His Word, you’d think I would have spent more than 4 minutes in it this morning. Makes me look forward to the evening when I know I will be able to spend some more time reading and reflecting.
Maybe one of the marks of being a Christian isn’t owning a Bible, or even reading it like a Pharisee, but longing for the Word between meals.
Gosh. Makes me think of prayer. The meal time is the typical “prayer” time. How sad we don’t long for the things of God in any way outside of the stereotype.
And by the way, where’s Don? Shouldn’t he be responding to comments on his post?
I love that you said “jack” in a post about the Bible. Just saying.