When the Bible Replaced Jesus
The Word became flesh—not a book.
When the Bible Replaced Jesus
The Word became flesh—not a book.
Note from the author:
When I first published this post, it carried the title “The Bible Isn’t the Fourth Member of the Trinity.” While that phrase captured the heart of what I was wrestling with, I’ve since realized it also created confusion for some readers—pulling focus away from the deeper message I hoped to share. So I’ve retitled it to something more clear and grounded in my experience.
This is a story about how I came to realize that the Bible is sacred—but it’s not the center.
Jesus is.
Because the Word became flesh - not a book.
I’ll never forget my first camp meeting as a young pastor.
The evangelist stood on the platform holding his leather-bound Bible high above his head and declared:
“This is the Word of God. This is the only thing you can trust in this world. God only speaks through this book.”
Then he invited all of us to hold up our Bibles and repeat after him:
“This is my Bible. I believe every word. I will never doubt it. I will trust it completely. It is the truth. And it is all I need.”
It felt powerful. Sacred. True.
The next Sunday, I went back to my small country church and copied him.
We did it again the next week.
And the next.
It became part of our rhythm.
But months later, a teenager came up to me after church and asked, “Do we worship the Bible?” I smiled and said, “No, of course not.”
But she didn’t stop there.
“It just feels like we do. The way we hold our Bibles up in the air… it seems like the Bible is God.”
Her words hit me like a thunderclap. Is the Bible God?
Of course not. But… had I made it seem like it was?
In that moment, something cracked open in me. I experienced one of those punch-in-the-gut, step-on-your-toes, Holy Spirit moments, a conviction that was painful and beautiful all at once.
It was a kairos moment—a divine interruption.
A sacred invitation to metanoia: to see differently, and to turn.
It wasn’t shame, it was awakening.
I began to see that I hadn’t been leading people deeper into Jesus.
I’d been leading them into a system of certainty disguised as faith.
When the Bible Becomes the Idol
Biblicism treats the Bible not as a sacred library or Spirit-breathed witness, but as a flawless, flat rulebook dropped straight from heaven.
Biblicism assumes every verse carries the same weight, that Leviticus 20 and Luke 15 should be read exactly the same way—regardless of covenant, context, or Christ.
That sounds faithful.
But it’s not.
Because when every word carries the same weight, you can make the Bible say anything you want.
And today, that’s exactly what’s happening.
Verses are ripped out of context to defend Christian nationalism.
To shame LGBTQ+ people.
To prop up patriarchy and white supremacy.
To silence grief.
To justify violence.
To control others.
It’s happening:
In pulpits.
In politics.
In people’s hearts.
The Deeper Danger
The deeper danger isn’t just how Scripture is misused.
It’s what gets ignored in the process.
When we flatten the Bible, we silence the Spirit.
When we elevate the book above the One it points to, we miss the living authority of Jesus - right here, right now.
We can hold up the Bible and miss the voice of Christ whispering, “You are my beloved.”
We can quote Scripture at each other and miss the healing presence of the Word made flesh moving among us.
What if we’ve relied on the words on the page at the expense of the Living Word who is healing the world?
What if our participation in the restoration of all things has been lessened —because
our noses are buried in a book,
our ears are pressed to a page,
and we’ve forgotten to trust the Voice still speaking?
Jesus Is What God Has to Say
Looking back, I understand what I was reaching for. I wanted something solid. Certain. I wanted to give people a foundation they could stand on. But somewhere along the way, I confused the foundation with the floor plan. I mistook the Bible about Jesus for Jesus Himself. And in doing so, I joined a long tradition of sincere people who accidentally placed the Bible on the throne where only Christ belongs.
But the Word of God didn’t come to us as leather-bound text.
He came crying in a manger.
He walked dusty roads.
He healed with His hands.
He forgave with His breath.
He bled.
He rose.
“In the beginning was the Word… and the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:1, 14)
The Bible never calls itself the Word made flesh.
Only Jesus gets that title.
As theologian Brad Jersak says:
“The Word of God is inspired, inerrant, and infallible. And when he was about eighteen years old, he grew a beard.”
Hebrews Doesn’t Mince Words
“In the past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son… the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.” (Hebrews 1:1–3)
God didn’t retire after the prophets.
God didn’t hand over the mic to a book.
Jesus is not just another voice in Scripture.
He is the message the whole thing has been leading to.
Jesus is what God has to say.
We Don’t Follow a Book. We Follow a Person.
I love the Bible. It has shaped my life in ways I can’t fully explain. I’ve spent countless hours reading it, wrestling with it, praying through it. I’ve memorized verses that carried me through suffering. I’ve opened it in hospital rooms and preached it in sanctuaries and whispered it at gravesides.
The Bible is sacred. It’s inspired. It’s our trusted witness to God’s unfolding story, a library of lament and liberation, poetry and prophecy, parable and promise. It’s not just a book I read, it’s a book that has read me. And precisely because I love the Bible, I’ve come to believe that it must never be mistaken for God.
The Bible was never meant to be worshiped.
It was never meant to replace the Living Word.
We treat it like a window, not a wall.
A map, not the destination.
A signpost, not the Savior.
The moment we confuse the Bible with Jesus, we turn a gift into a god.
And we lose the very One the Bible was meant to reveal.
“You Refuse to Come to Me”
In John 5, Jesus confronts the religious leaders of His day—people who knew the Scriptures inside and out:
“You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” (John 5:39–40)
It’s possible to quote the Bible and miss the heart of God.
It’s possible to know the Scriptures and not know Christ.
It’s even possible to love the Bible more than you love Jesus.
And that’s not faithfulness.
That’s idolatry.
A Better Word
This isn’t about diminishing Scripture.
It’s about putting it in its proper place, beneath the feet of Jesus.
The Bible is beautiful.
But Jesus is the beauty it reveals.
The Bible is authoritative.
But Jesus is the authority behind it.
The Bible is the Word that points to God.
Jesus is the Word that is God.
The Trinity doesn’t need a fourth member.
Let the Bible lead you to Jesus, but let Jesus be the final Word.
Reflection Questions
Maybe this stirs something in you.
Maybe it unsettles you a little. That’s okay.
We’re not throwing the Bible away, we’re letting it do what it’s meant to do:
Lead us to Jesus.
If this post challenges you, sit with the questions below, not as a test, but as an invitation to deeper trust:
Have I ever confused the Bible with God?
What would shift in my life if Jesus, not Scripture, was my center?
How would I read the Bible differently if I read it to encounter Him?
Oh how I have felt this! I have run into too many people who have put their trust in the Bible rather than Jesus. They say, “What does the Bible say?” Instead of “What does Jesus say, or what does the Holy Spirit say to you?” For years I was that way too. My prayers were searches for answers within the Bible. They were laundry lists of what I wanted God to do to miraculously help me or a friend.
But now I am trying to seek differently. I’m going to Jesus in prayer, with intention. I am asking for help, yes. But then I am trying to be still, and quiet so I can listen to His Spirit. He gave us not just the Bible, but the Holy Spirit to live in us and be our advocate.
If religion dies we’re just left with Divine LOVE…I’m down with that.