The Original Fact Checker By Craig Ruhl
One Sunday, many years ago, Karen and I attended a church near our new home for the first time. While getting seated for the morning worship service, I noticed that many of the congregation had brought their personal Bibles into church with them. The rack in the back of the pew in front of us had enough Bibles and hymnals for the number of people seated in our row, and I presumed that was true for all the pews in the church. I wondered why people brought their own instead of using the ones provided. It occurred to me maybe people liked to use different versions, and they wanted to highlight or make notes in their personal Bible. The choral worship portion of the service ended. As we sat back down, the pastor took his place behind the podium he would preach from. The order of worship called for the reading of scripture and then the sermon. As the pastor opened his Bible, he looked up and he told us that before starting he wanted us all to take our Bibles out, locate the chapter and verse and prepare to follow along as he read. I heard the rustling sounds of books being opened and pages being leafed through. After a few moments, the pastor read the verses, pausing for emphasis and then ending in prayer.
24 | M AG A Z I N E N A M E PAGE 3 24
What happened next took me by surprise. The pastor held his closed Bible aloft in his outstretched hand. He explained why we should bring our personal Bible to church with us. To my surprise, the first reason he gave was that we, as Christians, need to be careful about the information we receive. The example he gave was the Bible passages he had just read. Most of us assume that the pastor or minister leading the service knows what he or she is talking about and they are using correct biblical text in their teaching. We were told that it is our responsibility to confirm that what we are hearing is true and the only way to do that is to look it up for ourselves. He went on to explain the need for us to make notes on what he shared and taught in his sermons. The purpose of doing this was not just to have a record we could go back to; it provided reference points we could look up later and verify for ourselves. This was feeling more like a college class than the church services I knew while growing up. What an eye-opener for me. A pastor is telling us we should be fact-checking his sermons and then teaching us how to go about it. Over the years, Karen and I have used various versions of the Bible, often directed by which one is preferred by the church denomination we are a member of or are attending. Different translations of the Bible may offer the same message but often use wording that makes it easier to understand and relate. Be careful, there are some “versions” that distort truths and may camouflage an un-Christian agenda. When in doubt about a certain Bible version, check with your pastor or a trusted church leader. The original King James Bible is always a good place to start and is the one my family always had at home and my early church ministers taught from.
