New Poll: How Do Americans View and Read the Bible?

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As the Christian Post is reporting, LifeWay Research has recently released a study on how Americans respond to the Bible and what their thoughts are. According to the study, “1 in 5 Americans have read the Bible all the way through.” After graduating high school, some people never pick up another book again. Some people look at the Bible like every book imaginable, thinking it’s the same. But the Bible is a living book. It’s the only one that comes with the Author. As the study continues, “10% are not reading any of the Bible at all, 13% only a few sentences; 12% almost all of it”.

Truth is, most Americans don’t know the story of the Bible simply because they do not pick it up. Ironically enough, “9 out of 10 homes have a Bible, with the average being 3 Bibles in the home”. It seems as if more people were hungry for the Bible when they didn’t have it. Now, with the abundant blessings of having the entire Word of God at our fingertips, it is like information overload. Stories have been told of a man only having a single page of the Bible and winning multiple people to the Lord by speaking to them from this one page of the Bible. When this man encounters a pastor with the entire Bible, he is shocked as he says to him, “You must have won MANY people to the Lord!” This is such a convicting reality. What are we doing with the blessing of the Word that God has given us?

As this study continues to reveal how people respond to the Bible, 38% describe the Bible as a ‘Historical account’. While it is a momentous occasion when the Green family, the founders of Hobby Lobby, who have the largest collection of Biblical items, are constructing the first Bible Museum in Washington, we have to be mindful of this moment. Having a Bible Museum is not a bad thing, but we must not confine the Bible within the boundaries of a “historical account”. If we look over here and see a museum of dinosaurs, and over there, the Bible; some of these stats reveal that this is simply how people perceive the Bible to be. It is much more than that. It may be in a museum, but the Bible must also be in your heart.

In addition, “27% said they simply don’t prioritize the Bible”. It is so important that we understand the importance of priorities in our day. If we are not prioritizing God, we’re not prioritizing anything. “15% say they don’t have time”. Ironically, all of us have the same 24 hours in a day. Moses had the same 24 hours that we do. Jesus had the same 24 hours that we do. They may have had less distractions than we do. We are busying ourselves with that which we think is important. We must ask ourselves, ‘what is taking up my time?’.

Instead of looking at the Bible as something we should do, we must look at it as something we get to do. In John 15:5, Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” Some people want to spend time with God; they want to read the Bible, but they just don’t know how. The Bible can seem overwhelming at first. Most people want a plan of how to do it. We all need a simple plan that we can do each day. iAbide.org is that simple plan. Take this day as the first day of the rest of your life as you begin to see the Bible in an entirely new light and witness your life change. See the full conversation about this revealing study, and so much more. Also, shared in this segment: ABC News, atheist, prayer, communication, hearing God, history, morals, The Kingdom of God, Webster Dictionary of 1828, Biblical World View, and knowledge. Greg and John shared in this segment.

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