12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."
13 The Pharisees therefore said to Him, "You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true."
14 Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going.
Jesus bore witness to the Father - He was the Son of God, and represented His Father in His earthly ministry. And, He has called us to be His ambassadors, to shine the light of Christ and to communicate His message to follow Him. If we are convinced that God's way is the best way for our lives, then we will live in a manner that pleases Him and by our actions testify that Christ lives in us - that sends a strong message to a world that is in need of hope.
We are called to radiate the love of Christ to a culture that so desperately needs to know God and to integrate His teachings. 2nd Corinthians 2 emphasizes this call:
14 Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.
15 For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.
Recently, LifeWay Research released the findings of a phone survey from last fall tracking views on the degree to which society would be impacted by following the teachings of the Bible - and the Koran. A summary from its website says:
In this short survey, you can see that there is a sense of validity for the teachings of the Bible - with 8 out of 10 people saying that following the teachings of God's Word would be good for our society. This contrasts by a large margin with the perception of the Koran and its effectiveness for our nation.
I think there are a number of reasons for that. People sense that the teachings of Scriptures are good and right and effective...
But, there is a disconnect - you might have a lot of people who say that they think following God's instructions is a good thing, but you do have to question if they are willing to follow those principles. For, as we know, lipservice does not produce a change in action - we have to do more than say that following the Bible is good, we must act as if we believe that.
So, we have this overwhelmingly large margin of people who think that the Bible can have a positive impact on our culture. This indicates that there still is a cultural regard for Scripture, and that can provide an opening to Christians to share about the love of God and the wisdom of His Word.
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We are called to radiate the love of Christ to a culture that so desperately needs to know God and to integrate His teachings. 2nd Corinthians 2 emphasizes this call:
14 Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.
15 For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.
Recently, LifeWay Research released the findings of a phone survey from last fall tracking views on the degree to which society would be impacted by following the teachings of the Bible - and the Koran. A summary from its website says:
More Americans believe the nation would be better off following the teachings of the Bible than the Koran’s teachings. In a phone survey conducted by LifeWay Research, 1,000 Americans were asked their views on the Bible and the Koran. Each respondent answered whether each text is dangerous and if it would be good or harmful to American society to follow the teachings of each. While the majority of Americans do not consider the Koran dangerous or harmful, they also disagree that its teachings would be good for America to follow.In summary, 80% of those surveyed agree that following the Bible would be good for American society, compared to the 28 percent that say following the Koran would be good. 57% strongly agree that following the Bible would be good for society, compared to 12% who have that response to the Koran.
24 percent of Americans agree that the Koran is a dangerous book, while nine percent agree that the Bible is dangerous. One in four Americans admits they are not sure if the Koran is dangerous or good.
Only 14 percent agree that following the Bible's teachings would be harmful to society. Double that percentage - 28% say that following the teachings of the Koran would be harmful.
You can also view the general findings in two graphics on the WORLD website.
In this short survey, you can see that there is a sense of validity for the teachings of the Bible - with 8 out of 10 people saying that following the teachings of God's Word would be good for our society. This contrasts by a large margin with the perception of the Koran and its effectiveness for our nation.
I think there are a number of reasons for that. People sense that the teachings of Scriptures are good and right and effective...
But, there is a disconnect - you might have a lot of people who say that they think following God's instructions is a good thing, but you do have to question if they are willing to follow those principles. For, as we know, lipservice does not produce a change in action - we have to do more than say that following the Bible is good, we must act as if we believe that.
So, we have this overwhelmingly large margin of people who think that the Bible can have a positive impact on our culture. This indicates that there still is a cultural regard for Scripture, and that can provide an opening to Christians to share about the love of God and the wisdom of His Word.
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