"A Bible That's Falling Apart"

some thoughts on...falling apart

I didn’t know this was a Charles Spurgeon quote, but it’s something I’ve heard all my life, most recently at a youth conference I attend every year. Here’s the full quote if you didn’t recognize it by the title:

“A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.”

The basic idea is if someone’s Bible is marked up, worn out, taped up, etc. then they are someone who is on their way to being a spiritual giant. They will be strong in the faith. You can trust them with your Bible questions. They have got it together.

Now there are some obvious exceptions to this, which I know most people who use this quote are aware of. We could probably all name someone with a worn out Bible who became an atheist or simply went off in the wrong direction in life. Maybe they suffered addiction or got caught up in an affair or something worse….

The point is that reading and studying the Bible is good (just look at most of my posts here; it’s one of the things I love most). But reading the Bible doesn’t necessarily lead to a relationship with Jesus.

But that’s not what this post is about.

In my experience,

A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who is.

I think about myself flipping through pages trying to find answers to questions I thought I knew.

I think about my friend searching Scripture to try to discover why she couldn’t get away from that “sin that so easily” weighed her down.

I think of that teenager marking up the pages of his Bible as he tried to make sense of why his dad died so young.

I think of that young woman searching the pages of Paul because she feels called to preach but her denomination says she can’t.

I think of you. I think of you with your failures, questions, doubts, struggles, and sin. I think of you going back to the text over and over to try to see what insight this wonderful, ancient, God-breathed book has for you in your situation.

People who have it together don’t need the Bible just like people who are not sick do not need a doctor.

Of course, nobody has it all together.

But people who are falling apart, and who know they are falling apart, have Bibles that will be filled with dog-ears and bookmakers and scraps of paper with notes and scribbles and highlights and torn pages and tape and different colored ink.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s okay to feel like you’re falling apart because there’s someone who knows where all those pieces go, and he loves each and every one.

Today is the day I would post an article on the eschatology of John, but I had a few things get in the way of that this week as my family and I played catch-up following the flu. Thanks for your patience.