It is not uncommon to encounter a disdain for the Bible. We have seen over time an effort to remove the Bible and God from all aspects of our culture. The false applications of Separation of Church and State have been used as an argument for a completely secularized culture without any Bible influence.
Most recently, in our area, a Coach won his case for being fired for publicly praying with players after the game. It was a completely voluntary on the part of the student. Yet, he was fired. You can think of other areas that reflect the effort to eliminate God from life.
I was raised after the time that prayer was removed from public schools, along with the Ten Commandments. In fact, the schools that I attended had no Bible except for allowing for a “Bible Club.” My exposure to God and His truth came through going to church as a child. It was there that I was made aware of God and his standard for living.
The importance of the Bible to every culture, hit me in reading Romans chapter 7. It is here that Paul is making the point of the value of the Law of Moses. It is what makes us aware of our responsibility to God. It makes us aware of sin. Paul has been arguing that the weakness of the Law is that it does not change us so we can say no to sin, instead it intensifies the temptation to sin. Living in the Age of Grace we have a tendency to discount the importance of the Law. But Paul reminds us, “What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin.” (Romans 7:7a) And it is in this context that Paul reveals why removing the Bible and it’s teaching from culture is so detrimental. “Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”” (Romans 7:7b ) The importance of the Law is that it makes known God’s standard. It serves like the speed limit sign to make us aware of what is required before our Creator.
I would argue that removing God’s Word from culture, removes that standard of what is expected of us from the Lord. The practical consequence is that our ignorance robs us of the inherit blessing (common grace) of putting God’s truth into practice; and just like Paul people live without a knowledge of how to treat each other, and what is right and what is wrong.
Does rejecting the Bible impact culture? Yes. We are living during a time of the proliferation of evil. This is what we would expect if people were ignorant of their responsibility to God. The crimes against humanity result when “I” am the only person that matters.
The challenge to those that know Jesus is to make sure that first, we are growing in our knowledge of God’s Word. Then, second, we have a responsibility to make sure that we are insuring that others have the opportunity to learn these life changing truths. It is the only path to freedom with God and in life itself. “and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”” (John 8:32)
-Pastor Joe Parkinson