The Bible:
Our True Home
by Bishop Matt Whitehead
One of my most cherished possessions is a red hardcover NIV Bible. You might expect a bishop to say that, but it is true. This Bible is so special because it was read over the course of a year with me in mind. One of the many legacies of my mother’s life is that she read a Bible every year for several years focusing on different members of our family. Then, at Christmas, she would give it to us as a gift — and what a gift! You see, over the course of that year, she wrote notes and thoughts with us in mind. She has been gone for over a decade now but seeing her insightful comments and wise counsel in my Bible is like having a conversation with her. This is one of the things she wrote in my Bible:
“One day after walking with the Lord for many years it occurred to me that our true home on earth is the Bible. Its pages are so familiar, its truth so pure, its light so bright that it illumines every part of our lives. I am glad our home is transportable everywhere.”
I’m not sure if you have thought about that before, but I believe my mother was correct — the Bible is our true home. This true home is the source of growing in grace to be more like Jesus and living in fellowship with God and one another. As my mother so beautifully said, it is pure, light, and illuminating. In purity, it is holy, and, in light and illumination, it is revealing. The Bible is God-Given Revelation, and it is the fifth value of The Free Methodist Way.
God-Given Revelation is not just an idea; we Free Methodists know it’s our way. We view all five of our values (Life-Giving Holiness, Love-Driven Justice, Christ-Compelled Multiplication, Cross-Cultural Collaboration, and God-Given Revelation) as one whole, each value bringing necessary balance to the others. In a time of rising polarization in our nation, we resist the pull toward both fundamentalism and theological liberalism — not out of a spirit of compromise, but from a radical commitment to what Wesley called the middle way. This middle way calls us to listen to one another with love and grace while staying grounded in the authority of God’s Word and the historic teachings of the church.
We live in a culture where we need to be clear about our commitment to fully align our lives and our movement on the unshakable foundation of God’s Word. We hold unwaveringly to the conviction that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. As with any foundation, it is necessary to the strength and stability of our movement. Without our strong foundation, we will crumble.
For that reason, I want to share with you reminders of our beliefs about the Word of God. I’ll also share thoughts about the very nature of God’s Word and why it is critical that we are unified — of one mind — in how we approach and interpret Scripture in our day.
The Bible is God’s written Word, uniquely inspired by the Holy Spirit. It bears unerring witness to Jesus Christ, the living Word. As attested by the early church and subsequent councils, it is the trustworthy record of God’s revelation, completely truthful in all it affirms. It has been faithfully preserved and proves itself true in human experience.
The Scriptures have come to us through human authors who wrote, as God moved them, in the languages and literary forms of their times. God continues, by the illumination of the Holy Spirit, to speak through this Word to each generation and culture.
