There’s a huge difference between “hearing” the Scriptures so that we know them and “hearing” the Scriptures so that they transform our lives. And in our day, we are starving for that second kind of “hearing.” Today’s excerpt from The Joy and Rejoicing of My Heart is found on pages 8 and 9:
“In one sense, we might be inclined to think ours the most Biblically enlightened of times. After all, there is no shortage of Scriptures and Scripture versions. The Bible remains the best-selling book, year after year. Churches by the scores of thousands dot the landscape, and, week-in and week-out, ministers of the Gospel proclaim Biblical messages to millions of worshippers. Throughout the week supplemental opportunities for additional exposure to the Word of God are available through Bible study groups, radio and television, websites and online learning opportunities, and individual study.
“In the United States, evangelicals, that is, Christians in all denominations who profess to believe in the authority and supernatural character of the Bible, ‘now constitute the largest and most active component of religious life,’ comprising as many as 30% of the population, as Mark Noll reported two decades ago (The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind), a statistic which remains essentially unchanged.
“We are 100 million people, awash in the Bible, flush with opportunities for reading and studying God’s Word, and in communion with like-minded people who regularly avail themselves of such opportunities.
“How, then, shall we account for the spiritual malaise which hovers over our nation, and has left the Church of Jesus Christ a marginalized, ineffectual community?
“If the Word of God is truly alive and powerful, able to penetrate the souls of people, to bring real and joyful life, and to transform us into the image of Jesus Christ, then why is it, for all our Bible opportunities, the nation languishes in a spiritual, moral, cultural, economic, and political malaise?
“We are a people and a nation starving for truth, languishing in a famine of hearing the Word of God. Is it possible that the terrible vision, which the prophet Amos saw as coming, has descended upon us in our own time?”
For reflection or discussion
1. How do you account for the inability of 100 million Christians to change the face of our culture and society?
2. Do you see yourself as called to bring the Kingdom of God into your own sphere of influence? Why or why not?
It’s not enough merely to read the Bible and listen to sermons so that we read or hear something we like, or that makes us think. The Word of God wants to transform us and everything in our lives, so that Jesus, risen from the dead, becomes real to our world. And right now, we don’t seem to be hearing that message. Share today’s podcast with a friend, then get together to discuss it. Your free copy of The Joy and Rejoicing of My Heart is available in PDF at The Ailbe Bookstore.
T. M. Moore
