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"Pastor,” a man with a grocery bag full of Bibles said to me last week, “I have these old Bibles I want to donate to the church. They’re not of value to me anymore. Nothing would make me happier than to think of the church putting them to good use.”
As we talked pleasantly, I kept my arms crossed—a trick I learned long ago for avoiding the physical transfer of a bag for which I have no better use than the donor. Almost every month, some unfamiliar individual walks into our church office to donate a stack of old family Bibles. In lieu of filling up a warehouse or assuming the hassle of shipping dated translations of scripture to places in the world where English is not even spoken, I have taken to a different strategy.
I suggested to the man with the Bibles that he give them to some good friends and that he then encourage each friend to tear out and live with a fresh new page every day. He looked shocked at this irreverent suggestion, but I persisted. They could circle key words, highlight phrases that inspired them, and contemplate faith in God at stoplights. Retrieving a page from one’s pocket or purse a few times a day might constitute more engagement with the Word than those Bibles have ever witnessed.
