“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105)
We live in strange times – times in which we really can’t trust what we hear and see. For example, the #1 bestseller for non-fiction on The New York Times bestseller list is Zealot by Reza Aslan. But the list is based on a survey of booksellers rather than actual sales. The irony is if sales were used, the Holy Bible would appear on the top of the list every week as 20 million bibles are sold in the United States every year.
The Bible is not just being pushed off bestseller lists. If the American Civil Liberties Union has anything to do with it, Christians won’t be swearing on Bibles it in courts of law much longer. Just like school prayer and Ten Commandments plaques in courthouses, it is just a matter of time until the Bible is outlawed in courtrooms.
Those who seek to re-write our history would have us believe that our nation’s founders would never favor a partnership between church and state. Certainly, our forefathers did not want to see our country endorse a denomination, but there was never any intention to run God out of public places.
The truth is church and state issues really didn’t start regularly showing up in courtrooms until the late 1940’s. The arguments we hear today were rarely heard before a 1947 decision was handed down by the nation’s highest court. In 1941, for example, the federal government assisted by the Gideons handed out bibles to it soldiers, which included a letter signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. “As Commander-in-Chief,” Roosevelt wrote, “I take pleasure in commending the reading of the Bible to all who serve in the armed forces of the United States. Throughout the centuries,” he continued, “men of many faiths and diverse origins have found in the Sacred Book words of wisdom, counsel and inspiration. It is a fountain of strength and now, as always, an aid in attaining the highest inspirations of the human soul.”
We should never let the times shape our value system. That is one of the Bible’s most important roles in today’s society, which is why we need to make sure it does not disappear from America’s landscape like it has from the New York Times bestseller list. Its precepts and principles serve us just as well today as they served the World War II soldiers who were comforted by it in foxholes across Europe and the South Pacific.
Christian artist Michael W. Smith released a song in 2002 that has become a staple in churches across the country. Its lyrics make my point.
Holy words long preserved
For our walk in the world.
They resound with God’s own heart
Oh, let the Ancient words impart.
Words of Life, words of Hope
Give us strength to help us cope.
In this world, where e’er we roam
Ancient words will guide us home.
Holy words of our Faith
Handed down to this age.
Came to us through sacrifice
Oh heed the faithful words of Christ
Ancient words ever true
Changing me, and changing you.
We have come with open hearts
Oh let the Ancient words impart.