Who Says The Bible Is Holy?

According to a Barna survey of U.S. adults (July 2008):

84% of U.S. adults

90% of women

78% of men

96% of Blacks

83% of Whites and Hispanics

54% of Asians

90% of those over 40

77% of those under 40

67% of those 18 to 23

38% of self-identified non-Christians

These are interesting results yielded by the Barna survey. Do these results mean that the majority of American adults are conservative and behaving in a holy manner? If so, that’s good news! But there seems to be a problem. If so many people say the Bible is holy, yet why is there is so much unholiness in the land? Could it be that the media is just focusing on the few bad apples? That’s a good possibility.  It would be good if the media would focus more on the holy and positive things than the unholy and negative things happening in our culture. Maybe we all need to take a moment and write an email or make a call to the media and voice our opinion. But there may also be a disconnect between what people say and how they live. Now if the gap were closed between the saying and living, the American culture would be a whole lot more holy than unholy! The closing of the gap is achievable, when more and more people begin a relationship with Jesus Christ by placing their trust in him as their Savior, and then live by that Bible they say is holy. Perhaps the church is not shinning enough light and being salty enough so that the few unholy that are getting the spotlight can be influenced toward holiness! Let’s do both!

The Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 2:1-6 says, “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all…” (NKJV)

Paul penned this during the first century A.D. when it was not popular to be a Christian under Roman rule. The Christian community was under persecution, yet Paul exhorts believers to pray for all men, including government authorities. He does not distinguish between those who were favorable toward Christianity and those that were not! We may be entering a season when Christian values are trampled upon as never before in the history of our country.

So what is a Christian to do? Christians need to heed the teaching of Scripture, and that begins with praying faithfully for our government officials. We need to pray that God will work in the hearts and minds of these officials, so that we as Christians can lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence, and that we can freely spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to our fellow citizens.

We also need to work within the system of our government for good laws that uphold Christian values as taught in Scripture. Many Christians have become almost nonexistent when it comes to involvement in the government of these United States. They fail to realize that the United States is a Constitutional Republic, a democratic form of government which is a government of the people. It means that we Christians, as citizens of this country have as much say-so, and right to be involved in the process as anyone else. The separation of church and state does not mean that Christians are to not be involved in the government or stay out of politics, but that the government is to stay out of the “religion” business. So Christian, write letters, make phone calls, send emails to your Congressman, Senators and President, consider running for office, and by all means, vote. In other words, get involved!

Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 5:13-16, that Christians are the salt of the earth and light of the world, so start being an influence and light for the glory of God! Also, continually remind yourself of the words of Isaiah 33:22, “For the LORD is our Judge, The LORD is our Lawgiver, The LORD is our King; He will save us;” (NKJV).

For further input on this subject, read Albert Mohler’s blog-November 5th (www.almohler.com).