Unveiling The Treasure

2 Corinthians 4:5-7

We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. (2 Corinthians 4:7)

ONE OF THE MORE DISTURBING religious trends in the last few decades is a dramatic decrease in the number of people who believe that the Bible is a reliable expression of truth. This isn’t the case in every part of the world, but it is in many countries that were once considered to be Christian societies. Along with that trend is the predictable result that fewer people know what the Bible says or can even discuss it intelligently. In fact, alarming misperceptions about the Bible have grown, such that many perceive it as completely fictitious—the arbitrary creation of a few storytellers or religious conspirators.

If people were interested in sitting down and talking about these things, we could reeducate them about the historical foundations of our faith. Apologetics might be our best strategy. But as important as coherent explanations are, they don’t go very far in an age when people determine what they believe viscerally rather than rationally. Most choose sides and then try to justify their position afterward, which explains why almost everyone believes their side wins in a debate. Apologetics supports the understanding of those who have chosen to believe; it less often prompts faith in the first place.

The solution is to let Jesus be visibly attractive in us, just as he was to his first hearers and followers. That means living unexplainable lives. We are people who carry supernatural treasures in fragile clay jars, and somehow those around us need to see the treasure. They are hungry not for arguments or good marketing but for whatever is true, authentic, and transcendent. Not everyone will be drawn to the Jesus in us, just as not everyone was drawn to him two millennia ago. But many will. If people are reading the Bible less, we will have to demonstrate it more. It’s the most effective way to get the truth of God into a world that doesn’t know him.

{Jesus, you are the treasure hidden in a field, the glory the world is looking for. It is not too bold to ask you to become more visible in me. You promised you would. Even if you have to break the jar, make this treasure seen. Amen.