Robert Briggs, CEO of the American Bible Society, reported on the annual survey of how Americans interact with Scripture. He thought back to the first year of the State of the Bible survey. He was troubled by the finding that 10 percent of Americans had an unfavorable view of the Bible. He sounded the alarm as he spoke at a major inter-church conference about the survey.
He reports that the next speaker, a Dominican monk, gently corrected him. “I hear what you’re saying,“ he began, “but let’s remember two things: God is not surprised by the data, and God already knows what he’s going to do with it.”
I loved that response. And Briggs reports that profound wisdom has stayed with him ever since. God knows, and God is working on it.
I also found profound the way the Society looks at a future point – and it is painted on the wall at their headquarters in Philadelphia. “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14) Their view is that if the annual State of the Bible report is Point A on our journey, Habakkuk 2:14 is Point B. That vision “propels us forward”, he says.
And the question the Society poses is “how is God going to get us from point A to point B – and how can we help?”
Good question.
The 2021 State of the Bible report was upsetting as the data said roughly 26 million people had mostly or completely stopped reading the Bible in the last year. They reviewed calculations and double-checked the math but the lead researcher wrote “What we discovered was startling, disheartening, and disruptive.” In 2021, about 50 percent of Americans said they read the Bible on their own at least 3 or 4 times per year. That percentage had stayed more or less steady since 2011.
The 2025 data, for the first time since 2021, saw an increase in Bible Use and Scripture engagement, particularly among younger adults and in men – per a report by John Farquhar Plake, PhD, American Bible Society’s editor-in-chief of the State of the Bible series. He stated, “People are curious about the Bible and Jesus. How will the Church respond? Together we must respond with creativity and innovation. Opportunities like this don’t come along every day, so we need to listen carefully and respond to our neighbors with grace, hope and truth.”
Key findings analyzed in their 2025 report:
–Bible users increased from 38% to 41% (translates to 10 million more American adults reading the Bible outside of church a minimum of 3 times a year
–Millennials saw a 29% increase in Bible use from 2024-2025 and men saw a 19% increase
–Scripture engagement (a deeper measure of Bible interaction, impact and centrality) also saw an increase with growth coming from the two youngest generations
–Just over half of all Americans (51%) say they wish they read the Bible more
–One-third of Bible users access the Bible only in print, two-thirds are digital at least some of the time
–A majority of Americans are curious about the Bible, Jesus or both
While this is heartening, I think it is important to pay attention to where the growth is happening. And how can we encourage those young folks along with parents and others? First, it is important to consider our own Bible activity.
I search out Henry Blackaby’s wisdom – it is so timeless. While his devotional book was written in 1998, it nails the heart of the matter. He says it is puzzling that so many Christians try to live the Christian life without reading their Bible, except for sporadic perusals of God’s Word, seeking a pithy thought for the day.
His point? The Word of God is not merely a source of helpful suggestions, preventive warnings, or inspirational thoughts. It is life itself!
He points us to God’s gathering of the children of Israel at the edge of the Promised Land – they were there after forty years in a desert because their parents had not trusted God’s Word. Those parents died without seeing the Promised Land because they had not believed God’s Word. Even Moses was soon to leave without entering. Many of the children were old enough to remember those who were put to death dramatically over disobedience to God’s Word.
Here’s the seminal scripture describing exactly what we are talking about – God’s words about the commandments to that younger generation about to go into the Promised Land: “For they are not meaningless words to you but they are your life, and by them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.” (Deuteronomy 32:47)
Then God went further in His direction of them – he commanded them to bind His words on their hearts, to teach them diligently to their children, and to regularly discuss them in their homes (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). Think about our own routines of living – think back to the last time you really “dug” into a scripture or searched for meaning and direction in scripture. And no, just listening to a sermon doesn’t count. Oh, darn.
I know for myself, despite my daily devotional time, my real searching in the scripture and applying my mind and heart to obediently understanding and committing myself to follow it, that is more likely to happen when I am attending a small group women’s bible study in which we do just that both in preparation for our meeting and during our meeting.
So I am chastised when I read Blackaby’s pronouncement: “Our reverence for God’s Word is revealed not only by what we say but also by what we do. Spending more time reading and studying the words of people rather than the Word of God reveals our hearts’ condition.” Or, I would add, more time watching, listening or reading material other than God’s Word. Ouch!
In true Blackaby fashion, he wraps up our lesson: “To blatantly disregard God’s Word is to reject life itself. To obey God’s Word is the surest way to experience all that God has in store for us.”
So – not to leave you down and disheartened, let me share a concrete view of how we might consider bringing “life itself” into our daily world. My example is Billy Graham.
First – in his book Just As I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Graham, he describes the family’s evening Bible reading and prayer, how he prayed with his children when he was home, and the meaningful conversations he had with them around that – even late at night.
Next, the one I remember reading was either a newsletter about it or Anne Graham Lotz’ book “Jesus in Me” where Anne describes exactly how her father conducted family devotions when he was home. She recalls that he would read Scripture, stop to comment, ask questions, and lead the family in discussion. And all the children (plus his wife Ruth) attended. And as I tried to check that out a bit further, I found Anne’s description that when she was a girl growing up, her mother led them in family devotions every day. They read the Bible, prayed and “that was that”. I took that to mean there was no skipping this activity. Ruth and Billy taught by example “to love reading my Bible every day” and “to think about what I was reading”, according to Anne.
Finally, Ruth Bell Graham, Billy’s wife, did a lot of writing also. In Our Christmas Story Ruth describes the family gathered around the fire on Christmas morning, listening as Billy opens the Bible and reads the story of Jesus’ birth. We did (ok, I was the pushy one insisting on it) install a family tradition of reading the Christmas story when the family was gathered at Christmas – and as grandkids were old enough to read, they shared that tradition by doing the reading themselves. It is my hope and prayer it is a tradition that will stick with them in their adult years and as parents.
And yes, there is a big recognition part of me that thinks “oh, how inadequate once a year is for reading Bible stories and making them part of a family discussion”.
How about you? I hope this has helped stir the pot for you as it has for me. And been positive in decisive action you will seek out for yourself at this stage and age, whatever that is for you.
