2 Tim 3:16-17 NIV All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Christians can pick and choose which parts of Bible to believe and that results in a shaky faith. 

Many Christians have drifted from scripture and deconstructed in a way that they no longer believe…

Christ is the only way to salvation

The Holy Spirit provides Supernatural gifts

The Bible is the written word of God

We are sinful and need God

Heaven and hell are real places

Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection accomplished something literal not just metaphorical.

Each generation feels the temptation to eliminate or ignore passages of scripture that feel challenging or offensive in the moment. Some want to cut out what it says about justice and compassion for the vulnerable. Others want to remove what it says about God’s design for holiness, identity, and relationships. And all of this selecting is usually done in the name of love and what feels loving. But when put into practice these actions are the fruit of believing a deeper lie- the Bible is outdated.

People don’t always just reject God and Scripture outright. They reframe it, sometimes without even realizing it, through the lens of love and loyalty to close friends or fear of seeming unloving.

1 Cor 6 18:20NIV  Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

But issues of sexuality are not the only area where the authority of scripture is being challenged.

Here are some of the common questions presented that can lead people to begin to question the Bible:

If God is good, why is the world so broken?

How can I believe in the Bible’s creation story when science says otherwise?

How can Christianity be true if other religions claim to lead to God?

How can I trust a book that has been used to justify slavery and oppression? 

What about hell? Would a loving God really create and send people there? 

When we believe that the Bible is outdated, we start picking and choosing which parts to believe. We still love Jesus, we just don’t agree with everything the Bible says. It feels more like curating than compromise. And we live in a world of curation and subscription christianity.

Asking hard question isn’t a bad thing. But do you approach the Bible as a critic or a student?

Once the Bible is no longer the authority, cultural values take its place. And soon the church is filled with people who profess faith but deny its core truths.
The Bible describes this happening in the last days and says this: 2 Tim 3:5a NIV having a form of godliness but denying its power… the result is this

Doctrine becomes diluted.

Calls to repent go silent

Sermons avoid submission

Worship becomes about mood or vibes

And the next generation watches and walks away.

The Bible gets edited by emphasizing passages that affirm our values and ignoring ones that challenge our lives. And slowly we begin to follow a version of Jesus who always agrees with us rather than the Jesus who calls us to take up our  cross and follow Him.

 But when we are trying to discern what is true or false, we look to God’s Word. Is He Lord?  Does He have the final say?

The authority of God. The authority of Scripture- they are all connected. This is very good news in a world where everything seems subjective. We look to the words of Jesus:

John 8:31-32 NLT  Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 

John 14:6 NIV Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Psalm 119:11 NIV  I have hidden your word in my heart   that I might not sin against you. 

Psalm 119:105 NIV Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

The Father and His word. Bible Engagement: A consistent, Spirit-led encounter with God’s Word that trains us to love, think,and act like Jesus.

1 John 3:1 NIV See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

The Bible is such good news, to anyone that has questions and doubts, don’t you WANT it to be true!

Here are a few steps to Bible Engagement:

Set a time- that becomes a habit, Many christians read the Bible regularly first thing in the morning.

Read a Psalm Daily- These are prayers you can pray yourself

Read a Gospel Chapter- Meditate on the life of Jesus

Read in Community- Start a Bible reading plan with others

Use the Audio feature- Listen to the BIble on a walk or drive