Yesterday, I saw a post on Instagram referring to Christians who use Scripture on their profile yet spew out hate in their comments to those they disagree with saying things like, “I hope you burn in hell” or “I pray that you kill yourself.” This is grievous to be sure! Who knows whether all the people saying these things are even “real.” Such is the day we live in. I generally avoid comment sections, but I was curious to see what people had to say about this. There were some comments from Christians trying to express that they endeavor to respond graciously, ask questions and engage others with disagreements in a loving way. However, there was an undercurrent of something else that was troublesome to me. I’ve seen it increasing over the last several years in particular. Perhaps you have also. A distrust and disdain for God’s word that has become popular even among those who have been or still consider themselves Christians. It takes a lot of forms on the internet but what once seemed to me as subtle is getting louder and louder, “did God really say?” To be clear, I’m not referring to the landslide of sexual ethics and gender issues that has picked up speed throughout my lifetime. I’m referring to an outright rejection of the Bible because it contains a message of offense, namely that there is a God who will judge all mankind.  

It makes sense in some ways. First, can you blame people for rejecting a book that they associate with hateful behavior or have seen used as a justification to abuse? Second, we do have an enemy who is seeking to steal faith and what better way to do it than to get people to question the book that says they need a Savior, a very specific one at that – Jesus Christ otherwise they will be judged as guilty.  Third, Jesus himself spoke of a persecution that would come from following him. If you look at church history you will see many periods of time when God’s people were mocked, discredited, unjustly treated, or even killed for the sake of Christ. Why should our time be any different?  

There are many directions I could take time to speak about, but I only have one purpose in this blog post. I feel compelled to speak, again,  of the importance for God’s people, those who have been redeemed by him, to really read their Bibles, to not be content with skimming, or just taking someone else’s word about it, but to get to know God in a primary way in which he has revealed himself. The result of letting the word of God dwell in you should be increasing in love for, and trust in, him which should result in lives that reflect his heart to redeem a people for himself. It’s a long haul not a short journey. There should be things that you wrestle with as you read God’s word; his ways are not our ways, and it can be difficult to grasp this immeasurable God and our minds can never fully understand everything about God and his ways. But there is a lot we can know and it is so worth it to keep pressing in. His Spirit leads us into truth. We need his help to press on, to grasp concepts that are supernatural, to delight in truth.  

I’ve been walking with God in some manner for 50 years now and have a decent amount of history of engaging God’s word. It’s a myth to think that we ever come to a place of arrival where we can’t be tempted to distrust God. We will always need him. We are saved by him and kept by him and his word presses this point on our hearts. Rather than causing us to rest on our personal history it should cause us to abide in our vine (John 15:1-11) and seek him more.

This Saturday, at our Sovereign Grace Women’s event, I will be sharing some ways that God’s word has affected my life, and we will be walking through a Psalm together in a simple way that you can continue on your own going forward. I feel very passionate about this because, next to salvation, this area of my life – engaging with God’s word – is the number one way God has worked in me. I know several of you have plans already but if you can spare a couple hours in the morning, I hope you will consider joining us as we explore a tiny fraction of God’s word together and take yet one more step to love God and each other more as women in this specific church body. 

Saturday, September 16th at the church from 9:30-11:30. A light breakfast is included, as well as some giveaways, not the least of these being a new watercolor scripture print made by Jackie Benefield.