READ THE BIBLE BECAUSE... (2 OF 4)
by J.D. Greear
Scripture: Deuteronomy 30:11-21
This content is part of a series.
Read the Bible Because... (2 of 4)
Series: Start
J.D. Greear
Deuteronomy 30:11-21
There was a somewhat popular book that came out a few years ago called The Year of Living Biblically. It’s not a Christian book-in fact the author is a Jewish-born agnostic, who ays, @I’m officially Jewish, but I’m Jewish in the same way that Olive Garden is an Italian restaurant.” He lives in Manhattan, and for an entire year he attempts to follow every rule of the Bible as literally as possible. He reads the entire Bible for a month and writes down every single directive that he finds, big or small… which includes big things like the Ten Commandments but also lesser-known Old Testament laws for diet and dress.
As you can imagine, the outcome is pretty interesting… for example,
-Leviticus says that men should leave the edges of their beards unshaven, so this guy stops shaving and ends up with a massive beard that makes him look like a member of ZZ Top.
-He stops wearing clothes made of any mixed fibers
-He refuses to shake hands with women who might be ceremonially unclean;(awkward: you got on a short skirt, I bet you’re unclean)
-He tries to fling tiny pebbles at people without them noticing in order to stone adulterers.
-For a whole year: This whole process almost drove his poor wife crazy.
Now, there are, of course, massive problems with his approach… but it epitomizes for me a lot of how people feel about the Bible. They struggle to read and apply it. In a recent article I read, 56% of Americans say that they believe the Bible is inspired and inerrant, yet only 19% read it on a regular basis. In other words: “Yes, I believe that this book has all I need to guide me in life, and that it comes directly from God! But no, I don’t read it.”1
Let me play a little bad cop/good cop pastor.
Bad cop:
-Girls: Many of you have read the entire Twilight series of Hunger Games series but you have never read the Bible all the way through. Do you really ...
Series: Start
J.D. Greear
Deuteronomy 30:11-21
There was a somewhat popular book that came out a few years ago called The Year of Living Biblically. It’s not a Christian book-in fact the author is a Jewish-born agnostic, who ays, @I’m officially Jewish, but I’m Jewish in the same way that Olive Garden is an Italian restaurant.” He lives in Manhattan, and for an entire year he attempts to follow every rule of the Bible as literally as possible. He reads the entire Bible for a month and writes down every single directive that he finds, big or small… which includes big things like the Ten Commandments but also lesser-known Old Testament laws for diet and dress.
As you can imagine, the outcome is pretty interesting… for example,
-Leviticus says that men should leave the edges of their beards unshaven, so this guy stops shaving and ends up with a massive beard that makes him look like a member of ZZ Top.
-He stops wearing clothes made of any mixed fibers
-He refuses to shake hands with women who might be ceremonially unclean;(awkward: you got on a short skirt, I bet you’re unclean)
-He tries to fling tiny pebbles at people without them noticing in order to stone adulterers.
-For a whole year: This whole process almost drove his poor wife crazy.
Now, there are, of course, massive problems with his approach… but it epitomizes for me a lot of how people feel about the Bible. They struggle to read and apply it. In a recent article I read, 56% of Americans say that they believe the Bible is inspired and inerrant, yet only 19% read it on a regular basis. In other words: “Yes, I believe that this book has all I need to guide me in life, and that it comes directly from God! But no, I don’t read it.”1
Let me play a little bad cop/good cop pastor.
Bad cop:
-Girls: Many of you have read the entire Twilight series of Hunger Games series but you have never read the Bible all the way through. Do you really ...
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