Scripture: Exodus 5; 2 Timothy 3:15–17; Psalm 73; Romans 7:21
A Little Book That Changed the World
I am standing here on a busy day in Washington, D.C. next to this big museum, dedicated to this little book that changed the world. You’re going to see D.C. in full swing all around me. Traffic’s going, construction’s in full swing, kids, families, guy with a leaf blower, it’s a busy day, and we’re just three blocks from our nation’s Capitol, and I want to introduce you to this amazing building. It’s called The Museum of the Bible. It was built in 2017, just three blocks from the U.S. Capitol and it is dedicated to helping people engage with this book. It boasts an amazing collection of over 40,000 Bible related artifacts. It’s the kind of place that if you’re a church going, Bible reading Christian person you’re going to love. And if you’re a person who isn’t so sure what the Bible is, or if it’s worth your time, you’re going to love it too. As a colleague recently said, even though he’s a Christian, he can bring non-Christian friends and not feel embarrassed about what’s inside. It’s an incredible experience.
It was a few years ago when I first stepped foot inside the Museum of the Bible, and it actually started a fight with my family. We tried to squeeze it into a late part of the day during a trip to D.C. and we ran out of time; there were so many good things that I didn’t get to see. So, we came back for a second trip, we started right after lunch and we had the same fight, because three, four hours just wasn’t enough time either. But thankfully, thankfully, I smoothed things out with my family, and got to spend a whole day exploring every floor, every exhibit, and you’re going to love what’s inside. I think what you see inside this building is going to help you appreciate more than ever what’s inside this book. Because this book, just pause and think about this for a second, this book changed the world. A tiny, little book that could fit in my back pocket has changed civilization and culture, empires, nations, science, civil rights, family trees, and my own story. And I wonder what your relationship to this book is.
You know, for the next few weeks, we’re going to talk about some of the biggest questions about the Bible, like, does it really change your life? Maybe you tried and it was more boring than inspiring, what went wrong? Is the Bible really that impactful? And where did the Bible come from? Is it just an old book written by people who may have been right about God or may have been wrong? Is this a Holy book that has some sort of supernatural connection that God’s wisdom is contained within it? Or is it actually the Holy book, the inspired, infallible word of God as many Christians say? Now, if that’s true, is there any evidence for that? Anything to back up that claim or is it just what pastors say, and priests say, and Christian parents tell to their kids. We’re going to talk about all the biggest questions of the Bible, the impact it can make, the origin story it has, and the evidence that backs it up. I can’t wait to talk to you about this book, and I can’t wait to show you what’s inside this building. So, follow me, and let’s take a look.
The Evidence: A Book with Undeniable Impact
The Bible is the book that changed the world, that’s what this major exhibit here at the Museum of the Bible is all about. Now, whether you’ve read the Bible or rarely touch it, whether you believe it is the Holy word of God or something less than that, what you can’t deny is the Bible has had an extraordinary impact on human history, empires, nations, and culture. Let me prove it to you. What’s the number one best-selling book in human history? The Bible. Over 5 billion copies, that’s with a B, sold. What was the number one best-selling book of last year? Also, the Bible. Eighty million copies make Colleen Hoover seem like an average selling author. What book was mentioned by Abraham Lincoln multiple times as he tried to keep the states united after the Civil War? The Bible. And what book was quoted by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as he fought for a better America? The Bible. What book taught Rosa Parks to stand up against injustice? The Bible. She said, “Exodus 5.” And what did scientist George Washington Carver say inspired him to study the order and structure of nature? Also, the Bible.
What book is a major part of the plot lines of the movies, Footloose, and Lord of the Rings, and Evan Almighty? Bible. Bible. Bible. What book would you find scribbled on Steph Curry’s basketball shoes? What book would be mentioned on the eye black under Tim Tebow’s eyes? What book was once mocked on the cut off t-shirt of wrestler, Stone Cold Steve Austin? The Bible. The Bible. The Bible. What book appears on the official seals of Berkeley and Oxford? The Bible and the Bible. What book has changed the world? There is no dispute about it, it has been the Bible.
You know, one of the most famous passages about the Bible, in the Bible, describes how all Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, correcting, and training people in right living. Throughout history, people have found this book useful. You know, Dr. King, when he wanted to stir and convict Christian consciences, he didn’t turn to nature, he turned to the Bible — that all of us, no matter what our ethnicity, have been made in the very image of God. When scientists believed that there was some kind of design to the universe we live in, they referenced the Bible, its very first pages, that God created the heavens and the earth. And when sinful people like me and you search for acceptance from God and forgiveness for our past, where do we turn? The Bible’s the most useful book in the world. And the Bible can change big things, and the Bible can change little things too, like your life and mine. Let’s go inside and I’ll talk more about that.
How the Bible Has Shaped My Own Story
I’m sitting here at the Impact of the Bible exhibit here at the Museum of the Bible, surrounded by examples of human rights and science and the history of America. But I want to talk to you about the personal impact that the Bible can have on you, just like it’s had on me. I think for example of June 15, 2003. Picture me at half my age, I’m sweating slightly, I’m nervous, I’m excited, because I’m about to get married. I know nothing about marriage, and so, what book do we turn to? Now, my pastor reads a passage that my wife and I have chosen, one that describes there being no greater love than laying down your life for your friends. Now, Kim and I wanted to love each other until death do us part, but how would we do it? Would we follow our hearts? Go with our guts? Just give into our feelings? No, this passage was so useful — it taught us that real love, Jesus-like love, is sacrificial love. It’s laying down your life, laying down your preferences, laying down your opinions to really love, and value, and prioritize another person. And now, 20-some years later, Kim and I haven’t had a perfect marriage. We’ve had a happy one and a good one. But the Bible is so useful, teaching us how to love, how to forgive, how to serve each other in Jesus’ name.
Or think about July 28, 2017. I’m sitting here next to Kim, I have a Bible in my hands. Next to Kim is Kim’s mother, and next to her mother is her father, who is dying. Ironically, it’s his birthday, and it would be his last day. And what would we say? Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, from the moment of the diagnosis to his last breath was a matter of weeks, not months or years, but weeks. How would we have hope in a moment like that? How would we say goodbye, and not lose every bit of our joy and peace? How would my wife live without her father, and my mother-in-law without her husband? In that moment, what did we grab? The Bible. I turned to a passage in Psalm 73 that describes how even when our flesh and heart fail, God remains the strength of our heart and our portion forever. We believed that God would be my father-in-law’s portion — the one who would forgive his sins, save him for heaven, promise him a perfect future. We believed in that moment that we weren’t saying goodbye forever. We believed that God would be our strength. He would walk with us like a good shepherd through the valley of the shadow of death. It would not be easy, we would grieve and lament, but we do so with hope. Why? Because a book taught us. Because the Bible’s useful.
Or I think of that time when I questioned my own place in heaven. Now, there’s this one sin I struggled with for a really long time. I fought it harder than anything I’ve ever fought, and I failed more often than any time I’ve ever failed. I felt pathetic, far from God. I questioned, was I really a Christian? You know what saved me from total despair, from thinking I was going to go to hell instead of heaven? The Bible. I turned to a passage in Romans where the Apostle Paul, a follower of Jesus committed to his faith, describes his own struggle — wanting to do good, but finding evil right there with him, calling himself a wretched man in need of rescue. Paul knew my story. He knew what was right, but he wouldn’t do it. He felt so wretched in his spiritual life, and yet, he goes on to give thanks to God, who delivers him through Jesus Christ our Lord. Thanks be to God that there is a Jesus who doesn’t count my sins, isn’t keeping track of all those things that I’ve done wrong. He forgave me at the cross.
Man, the Bible saved me from shame, and guilt, and despair. It saved me to believe that I was still saved. How do I live? How do I parent? How do I be a husband? The Bible is useful. How do I say goodbye? How do I get through the hardest moments? The Bible is useful. How do I deal with my own morality, humanity, weakness, sin, and shame? The Bible is the most useful book in the world, and I’ve found that to be true in my own life, over and over again.
The Kayak Lesson: Why You Need the Book, Not Just Good Intentions
So, how about you? I’m not sure your relationship with this book, if you read it or not, if it collects dust on your bookshelf, if you even have a Bible. If you tried to read it and it was difficult. I’m not sure your relation to it just yet, but I want to ask you, and urge you, and invite you to connect your daily life to the usefulness of this book. Because I don’t want you to end up like me and my wife on the kayak that one day.
This past summer, my wife, Kim, and I went with some friends to an Airbnb, and in the garage there were two tandem kayaks. One morning the sun was shining, the water was clear, so I had this romantic idea that Kim and I could go out, and just kayak and soak in God’s creation, express our love to each other. But romantic is not what the morning turned out to be. We head out there, and started to paddle and suddenly, the kayak started to spin, like in circles. I didn’t know what went wrong so we tried again, and we spun in the other direction. I started getting frustrated. I’m like, “All right honey, we gotta paddle at the same time.” I was trying to be like Jesus. Failing miserably. And so, we tried to paddle at the same time and we kept spinning in circles and I said, “You just steer and I’ll paddle.” That didn’t work. “I’ll steer; you paddle.” That didn’t work. “Honey, you just sit there, I’ll do all the work.” Which also didn’t work. We were so afraid. You would’ve thought we had way too much to drink. Didn’t have a drop of alcohol. Just like drunken kayakers all over the water, so frustrated. It was the opposite of romance.
And then, our friends showed up in the other kayak. Two of our best friends. And they came zipping by straight as an arrow, like Olympic kayakers. I looked at my friend confused, and you know what he said to me? “Mike, did you remember to put on the rudder?” “The what?” I said back. “The rudder, it was in the garage.”
Oh, yeah. You know how kayaks work. There’s this little thing, it’s about this big, that just gets you from here to there, straight as can be. But the most useful thing of all about the Bible is that it gets you to Jesus. There’s a passage that describes how, from infancy, we can know the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. It kind of teaches you how salvation works — how you’re rescued from the punishment of your own sin, so that you can be with a Holy and a perfect God.
You know, the Bible is the book that gets us back to the very basics. God is perfect, and holy, and pure — that’s why we love him, that’s why we trust him, that’s why we follow him. And yet, we look in the mirror and we see people who are so far from holy, and perfect, and pure. I might be good compared to my neighbor or my brother — sorry, Chris, if you’re watching this, all right? We might be better or worse than the person next to us, but we all know that we’ve fallen short, we’ve messed up, we’ve done things that have disappointed God. So, how do you get saved? The Bible teaches us something that is so counter-cultural, almost so illogical, that we might assume that we’d have to balance the scales or make it up to God — that if I did three bad things, I’ll say three prayers, or give three dollars, or help three people in need. But the Bible actually comes around and gives us something so much better. It’s able to make us wise for salvation, through faith in Christ Jesus.
The Bible teaches a stunning thing that we call the gospel: that salvation is not something you earn or deserve. Getting to heaven is not a ladder you climb by being good. It’s not some karma you fix by improving your moral or spiritual situation. No, salvation is through faith, through simple trust in Jesus. There’s a Jesus that you can read about in this book, who came to this world to live for you, die for you, and conquer the grave for you. There’s a Jesus who came down from heaven, not to pay half your moral check, but to pay it in full. “It’s finished,” he said when he died on the cross. Your heavenly Father does not want you to live with guilt, shame, fear, or an inkling of doubt that you might not make it to a better place. And that’s why he gave you this amazing book. He didn’t want you to search into the messiness and muddiness of your own heart and hope that you’re going to make it. He wanted you to be absolutely sure. That just might be the most useful part of this amazing book.
The Study: What Regular Bible Engagement Actually Does
So, I’m here at the exit of the Impact of the Bible exhibit at the Museum of the Bible, and these big words are a reminder that the Bible can make a big impact on your world too. But maybe you don’t know what to do. Maybe you still have that lingering doubt. “Okay, Pastor Mike, maybe the Bible is useful for you, but I’m not so sure it’s going to be useful for me.” Can I share an amazing study that was recently done? They studied over 100,000 people, looked into their Bible engagement habits, and then saw what happened with their lives, and here’s what they found: that when a person would engage with the Bible at least four times a week, huge things happened in their life. All kinds of things — behavior change, relational change, health changes, obviously spiritual and eternal changes. And that’s why I’m urging you today to get connected to this book, not just to put one more thing on your schedule, but to really connect you to the book that is so useful for salvation, for correction, for teaching, and for life.
A Crash Course: What, Where, When, and How to Read the Bible
So, where do we start? Let me give just a crash course on how to engage with the Bible.
First, the what. Get a Bible. I love to use a paper Bible, personally. I just get too easily distracted by screens, and apps, and the rings and dings of my phone, so I love to put a physical paper Bible next to my bed. Other people, maybe you’re one of them, aren’t great readers, so I have friends who love the audio version of the Bible. They listen to it as they’re driving to work or as they’re running or doing chores at home. Just find a version, a copy of the Bible that works best for you. Now, it’s a little bit confusing — there are all different translations of the Bible from the original Hebrew and Greek. I use one that’s called the New International Version, the NIV; that would be a great place to start for you.
Next, the where. Where do you read the Bible? My encouragement would be wherever you can find a place where other people aren’t. Maybe it’s just the way that my brain works, but when I try to do a devotion, a Bible reading, and my kids are running around, or my wife’s working on chores or on her laptop, it’s really hard for me to focus, meditate, and think about the word. So, just find a spot. For me, it’s just in my bed, in the morning. For you it might be a coffee shop with the ear buds in. Just a spot where you can really focus on what this book is saying.
Then, the when. Well, there’s no one right time to read the Bible. You’re blessed if you meditate in the morning, or during your lunch break, or at night. I love to go in the morning when my brain isn’t full of all the ideas and to-dos of the day.
And finally, the how. Here’s what I do. The Bible actually says about itself that the person who is blessed is the one who meditates on the word. Now, don’t think of like eastern religion, emptying your mind. Meditate means to read, think, ponder, really engage with the text that you’re reading. So, in my experience, when I try to read too much of the Bible, I just don’t have the time or the bandwidth to really chew on it, to meditate on it. So, I’m going to encourage you to just take a section, maybe not even the whole chapter, just a section, read it and then engage with it. It’s not a sin to write in your Bible; in fact, I think it’s very helpful. So, get a pen, pencil, maybe a notebook, a journal, and start to underline words that are repeated in a section — that’s probably important. If there’s something that totally confuses you, which will happen a lot, especially when you start, put a little question mark and ask someone else about that. Try summarizing in your own words what this means, and then — this really important step — make sure you think about what this means for you, for today. Like what passage, what word, what phrase does God want to use to make this day better, so that you can follow him faithfully and know about Jesus’ love?
All right, so, there’s no exact way to do this, but really what God wants is for you not just to listen, but to truly hear his voice by engaging as much as you can with his words. And why would you do all this? Why would you grab this book, pick a page, meditate on it, find a quiet spot? Why would you try to engage with it, not just once in your life, but four or more times every single week? I want to go back to my favorite verse for today: that Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. God wants to use this book not just to equip you, but to thoroughly equip you, to totally equip you for every good thing he has for your life.
Maybe you’re trying to figure out how to serve him — this will thoroughly equip you. Maybe you’re getting older, facing your mortality — this book will thoroughly equip you. Maybe you’re trying to be a parent, and you don’t know what you’re doing — this book will equip you. Maybe you’re caring for someone who has a really deep need or learning disability — this book will equip you. Maybe someone’s hurt you, and you need to know how to forgive them — this will equip you. Maybe you’re carrying around a lot of guilt and shame and regret — oh, this book will thoroughly equip you. I want you to engage with this book every single day, not just to give you more to do, but because God had something so good for you.
More Accessible Than Ever: Will You Use It?
Now, I hope someday you can come to this amazing place. I hope you can just walk around this floor and see how the Bible has impacted the history of America, and Civil Rights, and science, and art and literature, and fashion. How the Bible really has changed the world. And I hope if you do, you’re even more inspired to let this book change your world too.
You may not ever make it to Washington D.C. to step foot in this place, but by the grace of God, you and I live in a time when this book is more accessible than ever. In fact, that’s what I want to leave you with today. God, in his wisdom, designed that you would be born at a time and place where this book, his useful word, would be more accessible than ever. The fact that I can carry an entire Bible in my pocket — what percentage of human beings in all of history have been able to do that? The fact that you can get a free version of the Bible in all kinds of translations, right on your cell phone — this is insane. What a blessing to live in this time and place. We don’t have to climb some mountain, or dive into some cave to find the wisdom of God. He printed it, inspired it, gave it to us in this book. It is so useful. So, here’s my big question: will you use it?
Where Should You Start?
If you are brand-new to reading the Bible and have no clue where to start, I’m so happy for you. Well, not the clueless part — I want to help you with that. But if you, maybe for the first time in your entire life, are excited to open this book, to learn about God and to deepen your faith, that is one of the most important moments of a person’s entire life.
Makes me think, just a couple Sundays ago at church, this young guy came, almost jogging up to me, almost dragging his girlfriend in hand. This young guy had just become a Christian, just gotten baptized, and he asked me, “My girlfriend wants to start reading the Bible, do you have one?” And I pulled off one of the free copies that we had in the church lobby and excitedly handed it over to her, and then he asked me this question and she kind of leaned in for my answer. He said, “Pastor, where should she start?” It’s actually a really good question.
In my experience as a pastor, starting at the right spot in the Bible is essential to actually reading the Bible. And that might sound like kind of an odd thing to say — I mean, where do you start? I don’t know, on the first page. Like asking someone, “Hey, what part of the movie should I start in?” “I don’t know, the beginning.” So, the Bible’s really unique in that way — you know, we live so many years after it’s been written that it actually takes a little bit of thought and wisdom to know the best spot to begin. And that’s why today, and in a bunch of videos to come, I want to share with you what I think, from my experience, the best progression to read the Bible in. And it’s still going to take you some time and it will still require some effort. But I hope it’s a really good, easy-to-follow path that gets you closer to God and stronger in your faith.
So, if you’re ready for that journey, here is my first suggestion. My first suggestion is not to find the right somewhere, but to find the right someone. Can you think of someone that you know, that you like talking to, that you kind of trust, that knows a little bit more about this book than you do? I think if you reach out to them and ask them to guide you, they would be so humbled. And if they’re anything like me, so excited to teach you what they have been taught about the life, death, and forgiveness of Jesus.
