In a Christian (moving towards post-Christian*) culture, most people have some experience with and opinion about the Bible. My contention is that many of our culture's prominent ideas on this topic are at best misinformed and at worst intentionally ignorant.
So over the next few posts, I'd like to deal with a few of those misconceptions and provide an explanation of what I very strongly believe to be a right understanding of what the Bible truly is.
So, to start off on a somewhat lighter note, first: The Bible is not a good luck charm.
As a sure sign that I've crossed from the Midwest into the Bible Belt, at least once a week, I will see a car with a copy of the Bible in the back window or on the dashboard. Now, I try to be give folks the benefit of the doubt and presume, that is just the Holy Book's resting place between frequent devotions but sometimes the black pleather has been faded to brown from years of sun exposure, the binding has fused to the back windshield, and the pages are yellowed and curled from greenhouse heating.
In these cases, call it out, it's a "good luck Bible". At some point in the life of that car, the Bible was placed in it, never to be removed. And with this, came some belief, whether spoken or not, that leaving the book in there would be beneficial.
And while I will grant that there is the slightest of chances a Christian cop might let you off with a warning if he sees your discolored King James on the dash, I regret to inform you that the Bible has no luck to offer.
So please, take it out of the car and give reading it a chance. That may actually yield non-speculative results.
I say this with experience because I once had a collection of unread Bibles. I owned no less than three Bibles when I started college, but had never made it past Genesis 3 in my attempts at reading the book. And while, I wasn't keeping my Bible in the car, I did hold some ingrained belief that Bible ownership (and giving it shelf space) gave me at least the tiniest bit of superiority (especially when I confirmed that my roommate was definitely selling drugs out of our room . . . sinner).
But a funny thing, happened my freshman year of college. I actually started reading that book, often late into the night until well after the 4th floor's most successful entrepreneur had closed up shop and what I discovered was exciting.
It grabbed me. It made me want to know more. It drew me into a story that mattered.
It was different than any of my presuppositions.
So, maybe you need to pull the book out of your shelf or backseat and join me as we take a look at what these Scriptures really mean.
Want to come with?
*I actually very strongly believe that a "post-Christian America" will be a good thing for the Church and society overall. First, unlike race, sex, or class people cannot truly be born into a religion, so the the fading of America's "assumed Christianity" will break down a culture that causes millions to confuse their nationality and religion. Second, cultural Christianity and civil religion are both offenses towards God. They are dishonest and amount to playing a game with the Almighty. I welcome post-Christian America with open arms.
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