How Bible-Minded Are You?
Across this country thousands of Americans read the Bible each day. They read it to connect with God and as a source of inspiration, hope, encouragement and entertainment. Each city and state is home to people who believe the Bible to be a source of truth and an essential guide to life. At the same time, people who adamantly oppose the Bible also make their homes in cities across the country.
Here in America, the Bible loving, Bible indifferent and Bible skeptic all live peacefully alongside each other for the most part. As I tune into the news, I am reminded that this isn't the case in many places in the world.
From my position at American Bible Society I would, of course, hope to see each and every American engage with the Bible. For nearly two centuries, this ministry has existed to help people encounter God's Word and experience its life-changing message. You and I realize that Americans hold differing views of the Bible and I am grateful to live in a nation where we can each express our own beliefs.
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In an effort to understand this country better and to determine how the Bible is viewed across the nation, American Bible Society partners each year with Barna Group to find out which cities are the most and least Bible minded. To determine a city's Bible mindedness, we ask local residents just two simple questions: 1. Have you read the Bible in the last seven days? 2. Do you believe strongly in the accuracy of the Bible? In this third year of research, we saw a few changes to the list. Birmingham, Alabama tops this year's list for the first time while the Providence, Rhode Island and New Bedford, Massachusetts area remains in the number 100 spot for the third year running. Other southern cities ranked high on the list while the bottom 10 spots were geographically diverse including cities in the West, the Midwest and the Northeast.
This ranking is not at all a judgment of how spiritual or religious a city is. It only examines city-residents' perceptions of and engagement with the Bible. We see this survey as a tool for local pastors and ministry leaders.
We know there are many people in Providence or New Bedford who love the Bible and engage with it daily to help their relationship with God. And we know that there are plenty of people in Birmingham who haven't picked up a Bible in years. Perhaps this data will help church leaders think of new ways to encourage congregants to engage with Scripture with more frequency and in more meaningful ways this year. We believe that knowing the facts is critical for making new ministry plans. That's why we think this research is so valuable.
Just as pastors and ministry leaders will be asking themselves what they can do to affect positive change in Bible engagement in their communities, individuals could benefit from asking themselves the same question. So how Bible-minded are you? How are you engaging the Bible in your daily life? If not, how connected to God do you feel? How could you encourage a friend to take another look at God's Word? Can you introduce someone to the intrigue, excitement and drama or the peace, promise and life found within the pages of Scripture? Don't let the life-transforming Word of God get dusty on your shelf.
