Challenges we Face Pertaining to the Bible
	We in churches of Christ are known (we hope) for our emphasis on, and allegiance to, the Bible. The first sermon I preached from this pulpit (Nov. 1, 2009), dealt with the inspiration & authority of the Bible. I believed then, as I do now, that you have not only the right, but the responsibility to know where your preacher stands on that vital subject. If we don’t get that one right, nothing else matters. If we get the inspiration and authority of the Bible right, we can discuss other difficult questions and resolve them based on what the Bible teaches.
	I see two basic challenges that face us at this particular time and in this particular place. The first is a wholesale assault on the Bible by those who clearly despise it and denigrate those of us who believe it. The second is the paying of lip-service to the Bible while, for all practical purposes, ignoring it. Let’s look at these two challenges in order.
	Dan Savage is a homosexual activist who sets himself forward as an anti-bullying advocate. For that reason he was invited to speak to the National High School Journalist Convention in Seattle last month (April 13, 2012). In the course of his remarks before 2800 high school students, he repeatedly referred to the teaching of the Bible about homosexual behavior and numerous other matters using a vulgar term that I will not repeat here (it had to do with male cattle; I think you can take it from there). Most of the audience clapped and cheered, but a significant number of students got up and walked out. After they did, Mr. Savage referred to them as “pansy-*****” followed by another vulgar term which I will not repeat. Quite a display, don’t you think, for one who claims to be opposed to bullying! I guess it’s ok to bully high school kids who respect the Bible. But, putting Mr. Savage’s hypocrisy aside for the moment, I want you to understand the way he blatantly denigrated the Bible. He said we should ignore the (expletive deleted) that the Bible said about what he termed “gay people.” He rhetorically asked, “What are the chances that the Bible got it wrong about a subject as complex as human sexuality?” Then he answered his own question: “100%.” Let it be said in his defense that at least Mr. Savage did not try to twist around the passages that teach that homosexual behavior is sinful. He specifically referred to Leviticus, Timothy (i.e. 1 Timothy), and Romans, plainly acknowledging that they said homosexual behavior was wrong. Mr. Savage is but one of many examples of people who shamelessly attack the Bible and those who believe it. But we face a second challenge: the payment of mere lip-service to the Bible.
	For this I want to quote Mr. Lamar Vest, president & CEO of the American Bible Society. I may break in with comments [in brackets]from time to time.
	“There is a lot of speculation about both the current role and the appropriate role of the Bible in America. But each year, American Bible Society puts the guessing aside and asks a sampling of Americans to tell us how they view and use the Bible and what they believe its role should be in America. Recently, American Bible Society released this year’s results from that research in the 2012 State of the Bible report.
	“The State of the Bible in America in 2012 can be summed up in a two words: encouraging and unsettling.
	“The research, commissioned by American Bible Society and conducted by Barna Research, found that the majority of Americans (69%) believe the Bible provides answers on how to live a meaningful life. But while 79% believe they are knowledgeable about the Bible, 54% were unable to correctly identify the first five books of the Bible. And approximately half of Americans surveyed didn’t know the fundamental differences between the teachings of the Bible, Koran and Book of Mormon, with 46% percent saying they believe all three books teach the same spiritual truths.
	“While nearly half of Americans (47%) believe the Bible has too little influence in society—a far cry from the anti-faith picture often painted in culture—approximately half (46%) say they read the Bible no more than once or twice a year. [Can you believe that?]
	“What The State of the Bible report also confirmed is that the lack of engagement with the Bible among Americans isn’t caused by a lack of access to it. Here in the United States, 85% of households own a Bible. Actually, most families own more than one, with a household average of 4.3 Bibles. [When you consider that 15% didn’t even have a Bible, those that did would average closer to five Bibles per household.]
	“Looking more closely at the data, something really interesting emerges. When we examine responses to the question “Do you believe the Bible contains everything a person needs to live a meaningful life?”, we find that older respondents agreed at a much higher rate than did younger respondents. While 61% of those surveyed between ages 18-27 agreed, those 47 years and older agreed at a rate of 75%.
	“Before you assert that older people are just naturally more traditional, remember that the older group is made up of the Woodstock generation, free-love ‘70s kids and the MTV generation. The data seems to say that the older you are, the more likely you are to value the Bible. Maybe it’s that our own life experiences prove the value of the Bible’s wisdom?
	“There is no doubt that the findings in The State of the Bible lead to some obvious questions. For instance…
	 If Americans believe in the value of reading and applying the Bible, why don’t more of us do so?
	 If we believe that the Bible has the right amount of—or too little—influence in society, why is so much negative attention given to expressions of the faith in the God of the Bible?
	“When survey participants were asked what frustrated them most about reading the Bible, the most oft-cited response was that they “never had enough time to read it.” The busy-ness of our lives often make it difficult for us to follow through on what we say we value. Another reason I often hear from non-Bible readers is that they find the sheer size of the Bible to be overwhelming.”

	We cannot force our community, our country, or our world to change its attitude toward the Bible. But I am concerned that the attitude of the world so often and so easily rubs off on the church! The sad fact is that members of churches of Christ are not known as walking Bibles as we once were. I doubt that any of us would spew profane insults against the Bible as Dan Savage did. But we simply MUST do more than pay mere lip service to it. Only a few minutes a day will have you reading through the Bible in a year. But do more than merely read – STUDY the Scriptures. It will enrich your life and make you a better person in every way!
	--Joe Slater (Justin, TX)