“Who reads the Bible?  According to the barna Group, in 2006 about 47 % of Americans polled claimed to read the Bible at some point in a week (up from a low 31 % in 1995).  However, a famous Gallup survey from a number of years ago found that while 82% of Americans claimed to believe that the Bible is either the literal or ‘inspired’ Word of God, and more than half said they read the Bible at least monthly, half couldn’t name even one of the four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John.  And fewer than half knew who delivered the Sermon on the Mount.

Have you ever seen a Bible ‘parked’ in the rear window of someone’s car? That’s common where I come from.  A guy will come out of church, hop into his car, toss his Bible in the back, and leave it there until the next Sunday.  That’s quite a statement of the value he places on God’s Word.  In effect, when it comes to Scripture he’s functionally illiterate six out of seven days a week.

The Bible is owned, read on occasion, even taken to church–but not studied.  Why is it that people do not get into Scripture for themselves, to understand it and see it make a difference in their lives?

Here are 6 common excuses:

1. I need something that works.
2. I don’t know how.
3. I’m just a layman.
4. I just don’t have time.
5. I have my doubts about the Bible.
6. I can’t seem to make it interesting” (Hendricks and Hendricks pg 14-19).

Hendricks, Howard G, and William Hendricks, Living by the Book: The art and science of reading the Bible.  Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2007.

photo source katita_spiderbot