Passion for the Word

A Passion for the Word

Odd, the way the less the Bible is read the more it is translated- CS Lewis

Anybody who knows me, knows that I love to read CS Lewis. If your a friend of mine online, you have seen me quote him many times. You may even remember me putting this quote up. When I first read this the truth of it stuck in my head and crawled up in there. I thought about it all night, and decided to do some research on the subject. According to Wycliffe Bible translators website as of 1998 there are 1,168 languages that have some part of the bible available in their primary language. Of those 438 have access to the entire bible in that language. This however does not account for the many different versions available in some languages such as English. If you can not find an English language version of the Bible that you can read and understand, then I don't know what to tell you. And in our society today, as long as you have internet access or a computer with you, you don't even need the Bible in physical form. There are innumerable software programs and websites available that have the entire Bible available at a instant. With the Bible so readily available to us, you would think that Christians especially in America. Would be reading the Bible on a daily basis. After all, it's not for lack of opportunity to read them.
But then I read the statistics from this telephone poll conducted in December of last year by Rasmussen Reports.
18% of Regular Churchgoers Read the Bible DAILY
32% Say the read the bible a couple times a week
20% Read it at least once a week
26% Rarely or Never Read the Bible.
I don't know which number saddens me more, the fact that less than 20% of churchgoing Christians read their Bibles on a daily basis. Or that over a quarter of them don't read their bibles at all. Now to be honest I'm not sure how many they interviewed for this poll. But I would be willing to guess that if you polled every churchgoing Christian nationwide the percentages would be about the same. Why are American Christians so apathetic when it comes to reading our Bibles? I say our not just because I am an American Christian, but also because I need improvement in this area as well. Have we forgotten the command given by Joshua?
Josh 1:8: Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth;
meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.
Then you will be prosperous and successful.
We have people around the world starving for a copy of the Word in their languages. According to Wycliffe there are still over 2300 languages that have no portion of the Bible in their language. Around the world there are people still being persecuted for owning a copy of the scriptures. For years those who have opposed Christianity in governments tried to outlaw the Bible. Owning a Bible in communist Russia was a crime, smugglers used to walk backwards into Russia and it's republics to fool border guards.
Yet here in America where we have access to the Bible any way we want, our nation has lost it's passion for the Word. Do we not realize the privileges we have as a society? For years after the completion of the Bible, it was only available in scroll form. Taught in the synogogues, or passed around from house to house like Paul's letters. In around 600 AD the Roman Catholic church outlawed any translation of the Bible other than the Latin Vulgate. From this time until the 1380's when John Wycliffe, translated the Latin Vulgate to English, whom the previously mentioned Bible Translation group get their name. The Bible was only available in Latin, that's a period of 780 years. The church did this to increase the power of the clergy, who were trained to read the Latin, while the common person did not have the schooling necessary. Because of this the church was able to endorse such practices as the selling of indulgences. The common people had to believe what they were told, they had no way to check the authenticity of what they were being told from the pulpit.
But that was just the opening pebble of what would become the Reformation, in 1440 the printing press was invented by Johannes Gutenberg. An invention which allowed for the printing of documents, instead of each being hand copied. This invention would allow for the spread of Bibles in the languages that people spoke, at a cheaper cost than paying for someone to hand copy it. And in the coming years the Bible would begin to be translated by men such as Martin Luther, William Tyndale, and Myles Coverdale among others. A couple of important dates to know

1517 Martlin Luther translates New Testmant into common German dialect-1530's publishes entire bible in German

William Tyndale in 1525-1526 the Tyndale New Testament became the
first printed edition of the New Testament scripture in the English language. Burned at stake in 1536

1535 Myles Coverdale a friend and contemporary of William Tyndale. completes the Entire Bible in English for publication
Or how about the people's reaction to the hearing the Bible in their own languages? In 1496, John Colet, another Oxford professor and the son of the Mayor of London, started reading the New Testament in Greek and translating it into English for
his students at Oxford, and later for the public at Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London.
The people were so hungry to hear the Word of God in a language they could understand, that within six months there were 20,000 people packed in the church and at least that many outside trying to get in!
These men of faith endured persecution, ridicule, excommunication, and even death to provide the common people with the ability to read the Bible in their languages. Often copies of the newly printed Bibles were confiscated and burned by religious officials. Or they would buy the newly printed Bibles from those translating them, then burn them. But the translators would take the money church officials gave them for the Bibles and print new ones!
In those days it would not have been uncommon for people to set aside a little bit each month and save until they could afford their own copy. Having your own copy of the Bible was important and precious. Think about anything you've saved up money for, when you finally can afford it. You go out and buy it, your so thrilled and happy. You've met the goal you've been working toward for so long. That new possession is going to be precious and important to you. That is the attitude and excitement that people had for owning a copy of the Word of God. They wanted to read it for themselves.
What happened to that PASSION? The burning desire that the people at the time of the Reformation had for the scriptures? Do we have it too easy in America? Would we value the scriptures more if we had to scrape and fight and claw to have a copy of them? I think part of the reason people don't read the Bible is that it is more than just a book. The Bible shows us ourselves in it's pages and can make us uncomfortable when we see ourself mirrored in its pages.
God's word is living and active. It is sharper than any two-edged sword and
cuts as deep as the place where soul and spirit meet, the place where joints and marrow meet. God's word judges a person's thoughts and intentions.-Hebrews 4:12
It's much safer to stick to cute little devotional books, sermons that don't mention our human failings, and a nation that no longer wants the Churchgoers to be it's conscience. The Word of God, is not an easy book to read, it's words will challenge and convict you. If you let them. When the Word became flesh in the body of Jesus Christ, he would point out what was lacking in the religious institutions of his day. The leaders of his day didn't like that, and we try to avoid it now. A national culture of convenience and apathy, leads us away from anything that challenges. Let us watch tv that entertains but does not stimulate thought. Movies that help us forget our problems, instead of pushing us to help those less fortunate with their problems. And video games that let us turn off our minds for hours at a time, instead of using that time to meditate on our lives.
Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy those things as much as anyone. But if we as a society and more importantly as the Body of Christ. Are not willing to cut down on things that distract us from the business of the kingdom. Then who will be available to do the work of the Kingdom? The only way we will see this nation changed, to see ourselves be blessed, and to see those that we love and are lost, be changed by the transforming power of God. Is if the Body of Christ rediscovers it's passion and desire for the Bible. Because the Bible contains the words that the world needs to hear. The Bible is what reminds us of the grace that has been given to us. And it is the Bible that challenges us to go out into the world and change it.

One Night, Two Hearts

On the night of the last supper, two of Jesus's disciples stood out in the attitude of their hearts on that fateful night. The first was Judas, and the second was John, the reason these two stood out is that illustrate the two responses to Christ that many people have.

First let's look at Judas, the one who betrayed Jesus. Many theories have been bandied about as to why Judas made the decision to betray Jesus. Most of them have of course centered around greed, since he accepted a bribe from the Pharisees to do so. But I believe it goes even deeper than just greed. You have to remember and understand the culture of Judaism and the Messiah they were longing for. The Jews were not looking for a meek, lowly carpenter turned Messiah. They were looking for a grand political and religious leader. Someone who would lead a overthrow of their Roman occupation and restore Israel as a national power. For part of his ministry Jesus might have fit what a lot of people were looking for. Large crowds were beginning to follow him, he had some influential friends that he had helped, and money was coming into his ministry. In fact Judas was the treasurer for the ministry.

But then Jesus began to talk about his oncoming suffering, about his followers needing to eat his body and drink his blood for eternal life. The large numbers of disciples went away, the treasury started to dwindle. Not only because fewer donations were likely coming in, but also because Judas was stealing from the funds. Judas who had been one of the 12 and one of the 70 sent out to preach the gospel, heal the sick and raise the dead. Decided that it was time for him to cut his losses, he was in a great position as treasurer if Jesus became king. Not a great position though if he's about to be crucified. So he made the decision that because Jesus did not fit his impressions of what Messiah should be. Because he did not want to be king like Judas hoped he would. But probably most importantly following Jesus meant putting himself in harm's way, giving up his way of life, and possibly dying. Judas decided to give up 3 years of walking with Jesus for the price of a slave.

How many others since then have tried Jesus for a little while, maybe visited a church a time or two, picked up the bible and tried to read it. But because Jesus did not fit their preconceived notions, or because what he asked of them was too much. They never follow him down the road that Jesus wants to take them on.

John however had the right idea, or as Howard might say he was in the right posture. He was seated right next to Jesus, so close that he could lay his head on his chest. You want to grow closer and be have a more intimate relationship with God? Follow the example of John, get close enough so that every time Jesus's heart beats, you can hear the pounding of it in your head. Get close enough to him so that his heartbeat becomes your heartbeat. You notice how Jesus may have reprimanded his disciples for arguing about who would become the greatest. But he had no problem with John wanting to be as close to him as possible. The Bible says if we draw near to him, he will draw near to us. He doesn't make us chase him, he doesn't play hide and seek. Instead he promises that those who seek, will find him, and to those that knock the door will be opened.