Brothers & Sisters,

             Bible literacy is waning in our culture.  That is a problem, but it also opens the door for wonderful possibilities.  According to an article published by Lifeway Research in April of this year, Americans have personally read very little of the Bible.  For a moment, reflect on these statistics:

• 30% have read several passages or stories from the Bible
• 15% have read at least half of the Bible
• 13% have read only a few sentences of the Bible
• 12% have read almost all of the Bible
• 11% have read all of the Bible
• 10% have read none of the Bible
• 9% have read all of the Bible more than once

          Consider this – 53% of respondents claim that they have read less than half of the Bible.  And let’s also remember, because we’re fallen, we struggle with honesty.  Even if every respondent answered with complete integrity (and therefore did not skew the results), 53% have still read less than half of the Bible.  That means ever other person you bump into on the street has not read much of the Bible.  Isn’t this a wonderful opportunity to take our evangelism back to the Bible?

            If we believe that “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart,” as Hebrews 4:12 says, then we should use it.  Perhaps in our evangelism we ought to get off our back foot (defense), and step into our conversations about Christ with confidence. 

The next time you’re sharing the good news of Jesus with someone else, pray and plan to ask, “Have you read through one of the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection in its entirety?”  I suspect that most have not, and this is a great opportunity to say, “Well, then let’s plan to read it together!”  The decline of Bible literacy is a problem, but in God’s providence it opens up the possibility of reading the Bible with others in the hopes that they might come to know and love Jesus.

Warmly in Christ,

Mike

http://lifewayresearch.com/2017/04/25/lifeway-research-americans-are-fond-of-the-bible-dont-actually-read-it/