I’ve personally never seen a Bible-thumper.
I grew up in strong, Bible-believing and -teaching churches and had plenty of opportu
nity to observe such activity if it occurred.
Let me save us both some time and explain what I did see from my earliest childhood. I observed
- gesturing with an open Bible, presenting it in mute testimony as God’s powerful Word.
- the closed Bible being held up for everyone to recognize as an object of awe and reverence.
- the one delivering the lesson or message pointing to the open Bible in his or her other hand, drawing attention away from the messenger and focusing the listeners’ attention on the Bible itself and the truth therein.
- once in awhile I even recall the Bible in a big hand being forcefully shaken at me. I think my kid eyes always widened then that happened.
In upper grades and into high school – certainly at university – I began encountering those who seemed to hide their choice to disbelieve behind namecalling: “Bible-thumpers”. The epithet was always joined by a facial sneer that would do the WWF proud and was delivered in condescending tones and loud.
I get it. In every class, grouping and, yes, church, there are embarrassing individuals whose deportment, speech and personal lives belie their claims to be members in good standing. There are also those, ah, intellectually and spiritually undeveloped who resort in self-satisfaction to using those occasional bad apples to prove rot within entire class, grouping and, yes, church.
I’ve never ‘thumped’ a Bible in my life. I haven’t even tossed one carelessly around a room, let alone throw one forceably down. Nor will I.
And they always call names. Huh. I was taught both in and out of school that whenever your opponent resorted to calling names it meant they realized their argument was nugatory and therefore specious.
They tend to reason no farther than they can see.
It’s nothing new. Paul wrote, “The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.” [2 Cor. 4:18]
See, – okay, unsee – any authentic mature Christian knows the seen part of who God is and what and how He does things is roughly equivalent to Minute Maid Park in Central Houston, while the unseen part is the rest of the state. And probably far beyond. We can’t know because we never see Him working there; we just see the results.
During quiet time this morning I was reading in the Psalms . . .
God’s eye is on those who respect him, the ones who are looking for his love. He’s ready to come to their rescue in bad times; in lean times he keeps body and soul together . . . . God’s angel sets up a circle of protection around us while we pray. [33:18-19, 34:7]
I haven’t seen God do that. I’ve sure felt it – too many times to count.
One more thing I remember observing during my growing-up years in the way The Bible was treated. I repeatedly saw it respected. I was raised to never pile anything else on top of a Bible. It didn’t matter whose it was or which translation or what color or size.
The Bible was held sacred by the adults in my life. As a mature man, I greatly admire them for training me thus. They’ve all long since made the trip Home and have the benefit of a Heaven’s-eye view of just what all God’s always doing that the rest of us have to accept by faith.
Part of me is jealous. Occasionally I’d like to observe what’s happening in the spirit realm in response to the faithful, steady praying of authentic Christian believers everywhere.
Something tells me Pixar couldn’t even come close.
I’ve never ‘thumped’ a Bible in my life. I haven’t even tossed one carelessly around a room, let alone throw one forceably down. Nor will I.
I respect God’s Word because I’ve lived long enough to prove its truth true in my own life. And I am alive – wonderfully, thankfully, excitedly alive – because of that massive, inexhaustible array of God’s Great Unseen.
So are you.
© D. Dean Boone, February 2015