"But, Irene, I don't believe the Bible." -- over twenty years ago that's exactly what I said and it made me feel like a heathen, but what was I suppossed to do when she answered one of my objections with, "but it says right here in the Bible"...?
I remember thinking, if I believed the Bible, I'd be a Christian! And obviously I wasn't which was why she was using the Bible to convince me.
But, I don't agree with Stuff Christians Like that this is a "cuckoo" idea. When I finally did believe, the things people had been telling me from the Bible came alive, crushing me and freeing me at the same time. And haven't you heard stories of people who suddenly believed solely from hearing the words of Scripture? At the same time, for me, people who lived like they were from a different planet definitely got my attention and served to help make things clear, so I'd agree when Stuff says
if your Bible is the only outward expression or explanation of your faith then the minute you meet someone that does not believe in it you've hit a serious wall. It's like trying to tell someone that lived their whole life in the desert how deep the ocean is and how many animals live in it. They don't even believe in the concept of salt water, never mind the miracle of oceanic life. You've got to live it. You have to be the ocean and express your life in such a way that even if all they've seen are sandstorms for the last twenty years, when they're around you, they can't help but start to hear the waves.