A Resurgence of Interest in Reading the Bible?

A friend gave us a compilation of the writings of Gordon H. Clark and we have enjoyed thinking through some of the arguments for biblical authority. “The Bible alone is the Word of God,” says Clark, underscoring his commitment to the hallmark of evangelical theology. I like this other thought expressed so well by Clark, “The biblical doctrine of inspiration demands that we view language as a divinely-appointed tool for the communication of thought.”

Now on to the question, is there currently a resurging interest in reading the Bible? Maybe. Take for example the New York Times bestseller Radical by David Platt. Radical reached as high as number 10 as a NYT bestseller back in May or June. Platt talks a lot about areas around the world where believers gather to read and study God’s Word in secret church meetings. He started a “secret church” at the church he pastors. Then, at the end of the book, he challenges Christians to do 5 radical things for one year. One of the radical things, number 2 on the list, is to systematically read through the Bible over the course of the next year.

Many ministries and pastors have encouraged plans to read through the Bible in a year. But Platt combines it with other radical challenges in a formula that would stir the American churchgoers to consider more deeply what it means to follow Christ. I do pray that this challenge does not go unnoticed, and that pastors from all pulpits in the U.S. would issue a similar challenge. I believe God wants us to hear from Him and He gave us His Word for this purpose.

The other challenge I see that might indicate God’s people are being drawn back to His Word comes from The Seed Company, the Bible-translation wing of Wycliffe. It’s called the Blank Bible Challenge. For 353 million people in the world, the Bible is a blank book. They have no Scriptures in their language. On the flip side, 66% of American Christians never or rarely read their Bibles. So the challenge is this: spend 28 days opening up God’s Word and reading. Also, listen to Bible storytellers on The Seed Company website and other inspirational web videos. Through this exercise, they hope to develop interest in funding the translation of the Bible into the final 2200 languages where the Bible is unavailable.

All of this encourages me. There must be a resurgence in reading God’s Word so that we know and do God’s will. We must pray for laborers to be sent into the harvest and maybe this resurgence in Bible reading will help encourage those who are being led in that direction.

Look around your day-to-day life and see if you need more of God’s Word in it. Learn how to study it, to treasure it, and to make it a priority. The Lord wants us to seek Him and being in His Word is a wonderful way to carry this out.