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"We would eat chocolates and smoke cigarettes and read the Bible, which is the only way to do it, if you ask me. The Bible is so good with chocolate. I always thought the Bible was more of a salad thing, you know, but it isn't. It is a chocolate thing."

-Donald Miller, "Blue Like Jazz"

Sadly, one of the reasons many people are opposed to church and Christianity is because of The Bible. Well, not so much because of the bible, but because of how it is presented to them and/or used against them.

I still remember the first time I decided to purchase a bible. I didn't know there were different versions of it! Great, but what on Earth was the difference? Nobody told me which was the right version to get! I decided to go with a King James Version (KJV) Bible... I'd definitely seen this, so it seemed like a reasonable idea at the time.

Let's take a look at a very well-known bible verse, John 3:16 as it appears in the KJV:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Awesome. Great concept. But, I was 16... "begotten? believeth?", this was more like Shakespeare than God's word. How could I get excited about a God who talks to me like He's speaking from the stage at The Globe? Now, I know there are some "religions" (see previous blog post) which will tell you I am bound to go to hell because I don't read the KJV. In fact, here's a quote I found while looking for statistics as to why people don't read their bible more:

"Because they aren't literate enough to read a real Bible (KJV) so they figure why waste their time with a fake one."

A bold statement. Made with conviction. Who wrote this? It was this guy...

"By Anonymous, at July 20, 2007 3:30 PM"

Sure, way to stand by your beliefs there, Captain Anonymous.

Let's take a look at John 3:16 in a couple of other versions of the bible:

NIV
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

THE MESSAGE
"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him."

The concept appears to be very much the same. So, is it really important that you read a specific version of The Bible, or is it more important to find a version which A) sticks to what God's message is, B) makes sense to you, and C) you enjoy reading?

Once I found one which worked for me, I started to enjoy reading it. There was the gospels (particularly Matthew for me). Corinthians. The beatitudes & the sermon on the mount. Mind blowing stuff, all of it.

The Bible, to me, is not a weapon. It is not for beating or thumping. It is not an ancient text to be studied like the Greek mythologies. It is not propaganda.

The Bible, to me, is a history of God. It is a refuge for the hurt, lost and suffering. It is God's word. It is God's message of grace as he was obligated to give us nothing. It is a record of the life, death, and resurrection of His son, Jesus Christ.

The Bible is love. It is hope. It is kindness. It's a way to revolutionize the world if we truly live by the example which was set for us.