Do We Need to ‘Protect’ the Bible?

After hearing positive reviews about the film “The Book of Eli” over the last year, I finally decided to watch it. And it was good.  Very good – abet it did earn the “R” ranking…

However, this post is not a full movie review…instead I want to focus on one comment in the film that I believe caries a ton of weight in today’s world. Yet, before I can talk about the comment, I guess I should give you guys an overview real quick (with one spoiler…which really won’t affect things too much…)

The earth’s ozone has been destroyed by war – turning the planet into one big desert. Survivors are making due the best they can with limited resources…

The protagonist of the film, Eli, is traveling west looking for a safe place to deliver the last remaining copy of the Bible.  He has been on this journey for 30 years – moving slowly across North America and protecting the book from folks who would either destroy it or use it for evil (i.e. twist the message it contains).

Near the end, Eli makes the following comment:

“In all these years I’ve been carrying it and reading it every day, I got so caught up in keeping it safe that I forgot to live by what I learned from it.”

Wow! Powerful… simply powerful….and heart piercing…

How many of us get caught up in trying to ‘protect’ the Bible? Fighting battles of Biblical inerrancy…. trying to prove the scientific and historical accuracy of the Bible….or fighting to keep it in public eye through posting Bible verses in court rooms, street corners, schools, etc…

Yet, how many of us really live by the words of Jesus? How many of us actually live out Jesus’ words to love and bless our enemies (Mt 5:44)? How many us are practically caring for those who are struggling to keep food on the table (Mt 25:31-45, Gal 2:9-11)?

In looking around, I would say that way too few of us are living “by what [we] learned from it”…

Maybe…just maybe… we should stop trying to protect the Bible and start living out the message within it…

What do you think?

Do we need to protect the Bible? Are we, as Christians, spending too much, too little, or the right about of time protecting the Bible?

How are we doing living the message? Did we learn from it and apply it to our lives? Is there more to learn or are things alright?

5 thoughts on “Do We Need to ‘Protect’ the Bible?”

  1. I think we need to protect the Bible but the best way for us to protect the Bible is to live it out so others will see its truth

    1. Great way to bring them both together! 🙂

      Putting Jesus’ message into practice is a great way to protect Bible as it relevant and meaningful. Our actions reflect God into the lives of the people around us. Good stuff.

  2. Great movie; great quote. If you haven’t already seen it you/everyone needs to watch: “Of Gods & Men.” Incredible movie.

    1. This is the first I have heard about “Of Gods & Men”…. A quick internet search confirms your recommendation, and luckily, our local library has a copy with English subtitles (I just checked their online catalog) – granted, there are six other people waiting for the film before me so it will be a bit before I can watch it. 🙂

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