Every Sunday morning, when I speak to the Church, I have wonderful people who display all the scriptures I use on the screen. For a few years, I simply printed the words on a paper outline that I took to the podium to preach. That way, I could talk seamlessly throughout my sermon. My outline was there, all the Bible passages were there, and I could speak without pausing to flip pages.

Then, about five years ago, I made a drastic change. I stopped carrying an outline up on the stage with me and started taking only my Bible. In fact, most weeks, it sits on a little table in front of the congregation throughout the whole program. Then, throughout my sermon, I will stop and flip to each of the passages and read directly from my Bible.

I orchestrated this change for a few reasons. First, I wanted people to differentiate between when I am speaking my interpretations and when I am preaching the Bible. In a culture of Biblical illiteracy, I realized that most people had no idea when I was using God’s word and when I was using my own.

Second, I wanted people to see the high value we put on the Bible above all else. My words are fading noise, but the word of the Lord stands forever. I want people to see their preacher picking up a Bible, holding it, reading from it, and then explaining what it says.

Finally, my desire is to encourage people to take a paper Bible that we provide for free and go home and read it themselves. Audio versions and digital Bibles have their place in the life of a believer. But there is also a role for paper pages where you can highlight, write, and make notes on the side. The printed page is not holier than its modern counterparts, but it does enable us to have a more tactile relationship with it.

In most settings where I speak nowadays, I carry a Bible with a few notes scribbled on the side, and I use that alone to preach. My hope is that when I am all done, people will value the scriptures far more than anything I have said.