The Forgotten Word
Rather than allowing the Word of God to be a light to our path and a lamp to our feet, we've kept it hidden in the dark.

Imagine you are walking in the mall and a researcher with a clipboard approaches you. You agree to answer a couple questions for the sake of science, and the first question is a puzzler: "How many Bibles do you have in your home?"

You mental rummage through each room, dresser drawer, and book shelf. There's the family Bible that helps track all the weddings and funerals. There's your Bible you received when you graduated from 3rd grade. You remember the little Gideon Bible you took from a preacher on the corner during college. Your "Goin' to Meetin' " Bible still in the back seat of the car where you left it when you got home from Olive Garden last Sunday. And after really digging into your subconscious, you remember the copy of The Message you bought when your friend said it was easier to understand. It's on your bookshelf beside Dr. Phil's "Best Self: Be You, Only Better" and Norman Vincent Peale's "The Power of Positive Thinking."

Oh, and you ask the researcher if your phone app counts. If so, you have a grand total of six Bibles which (if you are being honest) makes you puff your chest in pride. And you would be right to boast. According to The Barna Group, you truly are above average.

On average, American Bible owners have 3.5 Bibles in their home, and one-quarter of Bible owners (24%) have six or more."
Barna.com

But the researcher doesn't stop there. They ask question 2 - How often do you open any of those Bibles?

I've never been to your home and I've never followed you throughout your day. But if you are similar to the majority of American's who profess to be a Christian, you likely do not allow the Word of God to guide your daily journey (even if you are among the 24% with six or more Bibles in your house). The Pew Research Center found of the 25,048 persons they surveyed who claim to be Christian, a shocking 55% read their Bibles rarely or never! The breakdown was as follows: once or twice a month (12%), several times a year (9%), seldom/never (33%), or don't know (1%).

Of the 45% that remain, the bar is set pretty low by Pew, who asked if respondents if they read the Bible once or twice a week. Based on some of the other responses in the survey, I would suspect that many are able to claim they do, because a large portion attend a weekly worship service. Either they finally crack open their Goin'-to-Meetin' Bible or they've counted it if someone else reads the scripture for the service.

But let's give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they sit down in the morning a couple times a week with coffee and Bible and read a passage. But I think that's being generous. Because either way, these numbers are pretty sad.

As the "little Christs" seeking to be more like Jesus, we've failed to spend time reading His words and following His examples. Rather than allowing the Word of God to be a light to our path and a lamp to our feet, we've kept it hidden in the dark. What is most interesting to me in all this is the respondents who also voiced what they believed to be a clear association with the lack of Biblical knowledge and downfall of our moral society. And they're probably right. It's likely the shift of our moral center is directly related to the fact millions of United States Christians (some estimate 210 million) who own 4 or more Bibles never open one.

Thank you for participating in this survey.

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