The purpose of the Museum of the Bible, opened in 2017 in Washington D.C., is not just to display relics. It shows how the Bible has impacted human history, individual people, and every area of life.

What a timely message, since modern voices claim Biblical teachings are stifling and oppressive. Last year, a British court ruled that belief in the Bible is “incompatible with human dignity” in punishing a Christian physician for disagreeing with certain modern sentiments.  It even cited a specific verse (Gen. 1:27) it found offensive.  That is a logical sequitur from Karl Marx’s declaration, “The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness.”  History repeats itself, as in “there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord” (Jud. 2:10).

Would America be happier without Christians? Consider a few facts. Our oldest universities such as Yale, Harvard, and Princeton were founded by Christians.  Each year, one in six patients receive care in hospitals founded by Christians.  Over 350,000 congregations help alleviate the pain of human need for over 70 million Americans each year with $20 billion in donations.  In post-Katrina New Orleans, churches in Louisiana distributed 62 million pounds of relief supplies.  Pastors provide about 140 million hours of counseling and mental health services annually, at no charge.

The world is better when it embraces the Christian concept that all people have value, and are made in God’s image. Look at the video clip of Tim Tebow talking about his “Night to Shine” worldwide prom initiative on “The Tonight Show,” then dancing with Judy.  What a contrast to the world Jesus stepped into, where the Roman practice was to discard unwanted girls and babies born with challenges or deformities.  If killing innocent humans is despicable today, it’s because of Jesus.

Today’s culture is sailing into turbulent waters, blown by winds of secularism. As the saying goes, “You might get what you want, but you might not want what you get.” Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion admitted, “I have mixed feelings about the decline of Christianity, insofar as Christianity might be a bulwark against something worse.”

Steve Green, President of Hobby Lobby, was instrumental in the founding of the Museum of the Bible. He writes about the revolutionary preaching and ministry of Jesus and notes, “Within three centuries, this nonviolent movement had swept the Roman Empire.  Doctrines of racism were laid aside, crucifixion and the cruel gladiator games of the arenas were ended, the dignity of life was taken to new levels, the seeds of the emancipation of slaves were planted, and the groundwork of modern science was laid.  It was the beginning of countless blessings bestowed on the world by the Christian church.  Why would anyone want to see that end?”  Good question.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was an Atlanta pastor who spent time in an Alabama jail. When his fellow clergymen described his cause “extreme” and called for an end to it, he responded with his now-famous Letter from Birmingham City Jail.

King wrote, “You speak of our activity in Birmingham as extreme. As I continued to think about the matter, I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: ‘Love your enemies, bless them that curse you.’ Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: ‘I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.’ Was not Martin Luther an extremist: ‘Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God.’ And John Bunyan: ‘I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience.’ And Thomas Jefferson: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evidence, that all men are created equal.’ So, the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love?”

I can think of a few other extreme things Jesus said to whoever might be listening. “Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant” (Matt. 20:26). “Whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mark 8:35). “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:27). “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it” (Luke 18:17). “Whoever believes in (God’s only Son) shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Is it extreme to believe the virgin birth of Jesus actually happened? Philosopher Vince Vitale recently spoke about this. He mentioned Stephen Hawking’s atheistic explanation for our universe: “. . . the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist.” Vitale wonders, “Is that any less miraculous of a birth than the account from Luke Chapter 1? We live in a miraculous world. Regardless of whether you are a theist, an atheist, or an agnostic, there’s no getting around that fact. It’s not a matter of whether we believe in a virgin birth, it’s just a matter of which virgin birth we choose to accept.”

King and Vitale make the same point. We are all extremists of one stripe or another. The culture prefers the extremes of progressive secularism and naturalistic scientism, and concludes that faith is irrelevant. So, to believe and act on the Bible’s audacious truth claims is to earn the label “extremist.” But if that’s what it takes to know and follow Jesus, I accept. What kind of extremist are you?