My “Perspective” guest today is Mason Rutledge, President of C3 Leaders, an organization of Christian business leaders in Washington State. For over ten years this organization has gathered leaders in Jesus-centered business-focused small groups and events, providing authentic relationships, like-minded support, positive peer influence and a deeper spiritual impact in the culture, community, and commerce of the greater Seattle area and the Pacific Northwest. For more information: https://www.c3leaders.com.

 

Where is that Book?

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 spiritual growth. The Holy Spirit, the church, and the Bible. Spirit-filled prayer and people-supported small groups abound. Where is the Bible in your 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 who 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 power 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 out loud. He didn’t shout it out, just read aloud to himself. He let the passing taunts go by. He didn’t read applicable or effective 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 seemed awkward and yet he struggled through story after story of changed lives. People were changed simply by hearing the Word of God (Psalm 119:130). People had dropped at his feet in repentance and were given hope as he read (Romans 15:4). This clumsy, uneasy man shared the power of the Holy Scriptures.

 

AS A “MATURE” CHRISTIAN

you may believe you “know the Scriptures.” “You’ve got the Bible down.” You have moved on from “Sunday School stuff” to the deep waters of contemplative considerations and bulky books and the themes of our times … and all the while the Bible is buried in your bureau.

 

There is 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 Christian faith and practice is the Bible.

 

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

  • It’s refined. “Words of the Lord … are purified seven times,” Psalm12:6.
  • It’s true. “Every word of God proves true …” 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,”  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 and in our business.

 

RICHARD STERNS

is the former CEO of World Vision and Lennox. He says when he was at Lennox, he kept a large Bible on his desk, prominently on the corner. He never referenced it, but it became a connecting point with employees and others who visited his office. It led into simple questions and deep conversations. It opened doors. He didn’t need to open the book or his mouth for the Bible to be alive.

 

His phone on the desk would not have the same power … even with a Bible app. His Bible in a drawer would not have the same impact … even if it was his study Bible. And a Christian book might have been viewed as propaganda.

 

Where is the Bible in your business and in your life? 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 out loud during store hours. So how do you incorporate the Bible into your business? Into your everyday life. Think about it.

 

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

 

Bring your Bible to work this week.

 

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Thanks, Mason, for reminding us of the importance of “the book” itself. Holding it in my hands, the Word of God “is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:05 ESV).

 

May Jesus keep us close.