by Mason Rutledge, President

What part does the Bible play in your life?

Is it just another app on your phone? Do you own a study Bible? Where is it? When was the last time you just cracked open the Holy Scriptures and read?

The advancements in Bible access are amazing and rightly applauded. The Bible is more accessible both in form (phones and computers) and function (languages). God must be pleased.

Or is He?

God left us three tools for growth… the Holy Spirit; each other, the church; and we have the Bible. Spirit-filled prayer and people-supported small groups abound. Where is the Bible in business?

It is not a best practice to cite a source to support that very source. We don’t need to use the Bible to support the Bible. There are millions that will testify to the power. There are stories that speak self-sufficiently to the supremacy of the scriptures in our society. You know people who have had their lives transformed through the telling of the Bible.

Brenda and I spent a holiday in Key West. We weren’t aware of it when we booked the trip, but Key West is a hedonistic town. We came across a man who stood at the main intersection of town and read the Bible outload. He didn’t shout it out, just read aloud to himself. He let the passing taunts pass by. He didn’t read applicable or effectives scriptures, rather he read the Bible from beginning to end… all day, every day.

We chatted with him during one of his short water breaks. Asking about his experience, he was awkward. Yet, he struggled through story after story of changed lives. People where changed simply by hearing the Word of God (Psalm 119:130). People had dropped at his feet in repentance and given hope as he read (Romans 15:4). This clumsy, uneasy man shared the power of the Holy Scriptures.

As a “mature Christian,” you can believe that you “know the Bible.” “You got the Bible down.” You have moved on from that “Sunday School stuff” to the deep waters of contemplative considerations and bulky books and the themes of our times… and the Bible is buried in your bureau.

There is certainly a place for extra-Biblical materials. Yes, God gave us the Holy Spirit and each other, but the only infallible written source of authority for the Christian faith and practice is the Bible.

I will break with best practice, but briefly, because of the weight of the words on the Word is wonder…

• It’s refined. “Words of the Lord…are purified seven times,” Psalm 12:6.
• It’s true. “Every word of God proves true…” Prov. 30:5.
• It’s timely. “Forever, Lord, your word is fixed…” Psalm 119:89).
• It’s forever. “…the word of our God will stand forever,” Isaiah 40:8.
• It’s unperishable. “…my words will not pass away,” Matt. 24:35.
• And Jesus, himself, said it’s truth. “…your word is truth,” John 17:17.

We must use the Bible regularly in our life, in our business and, it is for this reason, it is central to the Brand Promise of a C3 Fourm.

Richard Stearns, the former CEO of World Vision and Lennox, recently spoke for C3 Leaders. He shared that when he was at Lennox, he had a large Bible that sat on his desk, prominently on the corner. He never referenced it, but it became a connecting point with employees and others that visited his office. It led into simple questions and deep conversations. It opened doors. Rich didn’t need to open the book or his mouth for the Bible to be alive. 

His phone sitting on the desk, would not have had the same power…even with a Bible app. His Bible sitting in a drawer, would not have had the same impact… even if it was his study Bible. A Christian book would not be recognized or seen as propaganda.

Where is the Bible in your business? You may not have a desk and, if you did, you may not be able to have the Bible on it. You can’t read the scriptures outload during store hours. So how do you incorporate the Bible into your business?

Through the Bible we can be “thoroughly equipped for every good work”—“thoroughly” and “every,” not “partly” and “most” (2 Tim. 3:16).

Bring the Bible to work this week.