I was a brand new Christian during the time that the Promise Keepers ministry was prime time. The church I was a part of had quite of few men that attended their conferences, and we had a group of men that met on Monday nights to go through their materials. As a new guy to the faith and to the church, I attended these meetings like a wall flower. To be honest, I think at the beginning I was there to watch the other guys more than any other reason. I wanted to know what Christian men were like.

During one meeting, we were in the book of James and read this infamous passage:

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:3-4)

Just as soon as it had been read, someone said “That’s not me. I’m not there yet.” Quite a few others grunted in agreement. After a few seconds, something happened that was one of those “defining moments” for me. I’ll never forget it and will always thank God for it.

There was a younger man in our group named Donald. He was short, like me, but at this moment he suddenly seemed to be 10 feet tall. I don’t remember his exact words, but it went something like this:

“Guys, I am not braggin’ or nothin’, but this is me. We’re reading the Word of God, so this is all of us. We can’t just read past it or ignore it because it sounds hard. I want patience. I want a steadfast faith. I know that we all do. God is telling us that He’ll use trials to get us there, and if that’s what it takes then that’s what it takes.”

There was silence for what seemed like a long time. By the time conversation started up again I was lost in thought. What I had just seen was a guy that was demonstrating that theology mattered. Even before I was a believer I had known the concept of the inspiration of Scripture (for a good definition of that, check out Rebecca’s Theology of the Day post on inspiration here). What I was seeing was the difference between guys that proclaimed it and a man whose heart had been woven into it.

Here’s the rub, I think. If we truly believe that the Bible is God-breathed, then we have to be ready to accept every word. There won’t be parts of it that don’t apply or that we can pass over just because we don’t want our views to be changed by it. There is real meat in there that God has spoken to us about Himself, His purpose,  how our hearts work, where He meets our needs, and what the life of a heart that is connected to Him looks like. It all matters, and whatever it says trumps whatever it is that we would rather believe.

I’m grateful that Donald was there that day. His words were, I believe, a means of God’s grace that put some of us on a better path.