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20 years ago I bought my first Bible. I wasn’t a Christian at the time and I didn’t buy it because I was knowingly on any kind of spiritual journey. Although I had participated in the Alpha program at a friend’s church and we’d had discussions around the faith, I wasn’t seeking Jesus. In fact, I wasn’t really interested in whether or not there is or isn’t a God.
So why did I buy this Bible? As good friends do, my friends and I have always enjoyed poking fun at one another. It’s how we show we care. So, I decided to buy a Bible to make fun of my friend based on things I read in the Bible.
But there was a problem: reading it didn’t give me ammunition to tease my friend. Instead, the more I read the more fascinating Jesus became. The way he was depicted was so unlike anything I had seen in pop culture (which was my primary exposure to him in any way). There was a gravity to him. A seriousness, not in the sense of him being dour, but that everything he did and said mattered. He was deliberate. Compassionate. Authoritative. Unignorable, even.
And as I read, I couldn’t get him out of my head. I had to figure out what to do with him. And while much more can be said about what happened along the way (and I’ve shared a great deal of it in different places), I became a Christian two and a half months later.
So, if you ever wanted to know if God had a sense of humor, there’s your answer.
You don’t know what will happen when you start reading the Bible
When I first walked into that Christian bookstore that happened to be just down the road from my house, I didn’t expect to be where I am today. Working for a non-profit seeking to alleviate poverty in the lives of children wasn’t my plan. Nor was playing a role in stewarding a Bible study curriculum used by millions every week. Ditto writing books, serving churches, and everything else I’ve had the opportunity to do over the last 20 years.
But that’s often what happens when you start reading the Bible—it changes your life.
When I first walked into that Christian bookstore that happened to be just down the road from my house, I didn’t expect to be where I am today. Working for a non-profit seeking to alleviate poverty in the lives of children wasn’t my plan. Nor was playing a role in stewarding a Bible study curriculum used by millions every week. Ditto writing books, serving churches, and everything else I’ve had the opportunity to do over the last 20 years.
But that’s often what happens when you start reading the Bible. God can use it to change your life in some pretty unexpected ways.
My hope for those who are buying a Bible for the first time
And I think that’s why I have no small degree of cautious optimism about the future, especially when I think about the explosion in Bible sales in 2024. Sales that were fueled mostly by first-time buyers.
I don’t know why these people bought a Bible for the first time. Some are undoubtedly younger people looking for answers to the crisis of meaning that permeates Western society. There is a curiosity—and maybe even a desire—driving them. But others may be more like I was 20 years ago: people simply looking for ammunition to make fun of a Christian they know.
But whatever their reasons, I hope they open their Bibles. That they read them. And they find something they did not expect. That they encounter the Jesus who is, as opposed to the one they have only heard of. Compassionate. Deliberate. Authoritative. The Son of God who is God and was with God in the beginning (John 1:1-2), and gave his life for us.
It’s easy for us to forget the power of something that seems so simple. But simple doesn’t mean powerless. Reading the Bible is powerful—it really can change a person’s life. Let’s embrace that, and trust that God will do what he does through his word: introducing people to the Jesus they cannot ignore.
The Jesus who is, and who will change their lives.
Photo by Aaron Owens on Unsplash
