"Pew" Bibles
As I was walking through the sanctuary of our church the other day something caught my eye. There were a number of Bibles sitting on the pews, scattered throughout the church. On the surface that sounds normal and correct, however, these were not the pew Bibles that are in the pew racks with the hymnals. These were people's personal Bibles that have been left sitting around the church.
Now you might think that some people just forget their Bible when they left Sunday. But no one came looking for them on Monday. And some of these Bibles have been here for months. So, what does this mean?
A couple possibilities come to my mind.
1. We are so affluent that things, even things as precious as the Word of God just don't mean that much to us. If we leave something behind that's okay, we have another one at home or if we lose it we will just go out and buy another one. This really makes me sad when I think of the untold thousands of people around the world that would love to have an entire copy of the Bible and are not able because the price to too high or it is not available at all.
2. If someone did simply forget their Bible and figured they would get it next Sunday, then I wonder how or if they are doing personal Bible study during the week. How are they studying their Sunday school lesson during the week? Only using the Bible on Sunday morning in Sunday school and worship is not enough to help a person grow in their relationship with the Lord and it is not enough to help us through difficult days.
3. Perhaps someone leaves their Bible in the pew because they sit in the same place every week and they use it during worship and read another Bible at home. This sounds reasonable, but then I wonder - Is God not speaking through his Word during worship? Do they not feel the need to meditate further on a passage?
Well all of this may seem to be much to do about nothing. But Baptists have always been known as "People of the Book." We got the name because we were people who read the Word, knew the Word and lived the Word. Today biblical literacy is at an all time low among Southern Baptist. Could it be that there are far too many "Pew" Bibles out there?
Someone asked me this question – "Do you know what the Devil really loves?" The answer is - a dust covered Bible.
I'm thinking it is time to blow some dust off some Bibles and to pick up some "Pew" Bibles – open them up and get back to reading and applying the truths found there.
I'm just thinking. What are you thinking?