What is your favourite less well-known bible story? Forget Jonah and the whale and David and Goliath but the really random or niche stories!
I couldn’t pick a favourite of mine so I will share both. The first is Balam’s donkey where in short Balam isn’t listening to God so God speaks through the donkey Balam is riding instead! The second is the story of Eutychus falling out of a window. In Acts Paul is doing a really long sermon, and poor Eutychus falls asleep, then falls out the window to his death! Paul then goes down to the body, raises him from the dead and returns upstairs to carry on preaching! I love these stories mainly because they just paint such a funny picture!
You will be surprised as to how little of the bible most people know. The people we interact with, won’t know the story of Balam’s donkey or Eutychus falling out a window, and I wouldn’t expect them to, but believe it or not, they may not even know the most basic and familiar bible stories. During lockdown and queuing outside Sainsburys a mum was telling us about how her daughter was teaching her the Easter story because she simply didn’t know it, and I was shocked!
So the only bible most people read it you.
When I was at school, I would often walk either to school or home from school in essence because the bus was cramped but it was nice to walk a few miles every day. Most days I would walk with one of my Christian friends, Nathan, where would talk about guitar pedals, drum kits, and occasionally something profound and theological before resorting back to what our next pedal purchase was going to be! But for whatever reason Nathan wasn’t around this one day after school. Instead, one of my other friends walked home with me. He wasn’t a Christian and although he knew I was a Christian, we had never really talked about faith. At this point I was probably about 17 and had been going out with Gemma for about 3 years and about halfway through our walk home out of nowhere, he asked me ‘why are you waiting till marriage’? I explained what I thought and the views I held on it and after a few other questions and quizzing going back and forth I will never forget what he said to me. He said, “although I may not agree with you, I respect what you think and that you have the integrity to live what you believe”.
I have no idea if he has any faith now or even if he remembers that conversation, but this is so challenging for me. I know that is only a small example but whether we want it or not, people form views about God by our actions. Hopefully my friend left with a positive impression of the church and thought that this is at least how Christians should behave. But this goes both ways. This story left a positive impression, but I know that I have also acted badly with people which also forms their view of Christians. The only bible most people will read is you and me.
What do people read when they read us?
Do they read “truthful, grateful, generous, peaceful, just, fair, merciful, righteous, quick to listen, integrity, loving, encouraging” and so on. Or do they read “bitter, deceitful, liar, ungrateful, hypocrite, greedy” and so on. We should live in a way that gives glory to God in everything we do as people will read our actions and assume what Christianity is all about based on those actions. If we are bitter and jealous, people will assume that Christians and the church are bitter and jealous people. Conversely if we are generous and welcoming, people will assume that Christians and the church are generous and welcoming. I know which group I’d rather be a part of. The only bible most people read is us, and when they do read us, what do they read?
On Palm Sunday the Jews recognised the kingship of Jesus and they worshipped him singing and praising with the words “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest! Hosanna!” And 5 days later their actions showed the opposite.
But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” For the third time Pilate spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore, I will have him punished and then release him.” But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed.
From Luke 23
Do you recognise the kingship of Jesus in your words, actions, speech, lifestyle, and songs, every day of the week?
The point of this is actually very simple. How do your actions align with your words? How does your lifestyle align with the words we sing on Sundays? If the only bible most people read, is you, what do they read?