WE GET ALL KINDS
Know Your Bible is designed to reach the general public. We answer questions that they ask, and keep the answers short enough to interest almost anyone. When your audience is the general public you can be sure that your responses will truly be “all kinds.” We get a few hateful calls or emails. We get a few people who don’t want to hear what the Bible has to say about some moral practice or some doctrine they have been taught is all important. We’ve got one loyal viewer who has obviously been taught that we should worship on Saturday, and is stirred to action anytime we discuss the Sabbath. He favors ALL CAPS for most of his messages; I assume to emphasize how certain he is that we really are “liars, false teachers, not the true church, and will most surely go to hell.” (At least we know he’s a faithful viewer. I don’t think we’re going to convert him to Sunday worship, but maybe he’s learning something from our other topics.) I gave up responding quite a while ago since Jesus told me to. (See Matt. 7:6 about pearls and pigs.)
While we do get that kind of response occasionally, it is not the only kind – and certainly in the minority. Responses to Know Your Bible are overwhelmingly from sincere people who really want to know what the Bible has to say. With more and more of our questions coming via email, we get a lot more feedback. People often respond with a “thank you,” a follow up question, or a little more of their story. We have an opportunity for further teaching and trust-building. I had one recently that asked about being judged for every wrong word and deed. He wondered how that would work for Christians – aren’t they really “forgiven?” I responded with some Romans 8:1 kind of teaching about grace and works. Almost immediately I got a lengthy response of gratitude. I learned that he was in his 70’s and had been a church of Christ member since he was 16. He had obviously been taught a version of Christian assurance with plenty of “I hope I’m good enough” involved. Now that he was nearing the end, he was fearful instead of confident. He wrote a wonderful note about how much the answer meant to him. My exchange with this one viewer made me think about how much good Know Your Bible does – in so many different ways. [KYB Sunday is coming in October, so be praying about your annual commitment.]