According to the Community Grab Bag, a group of area churches plan to distribute Bibles in Newport News. The leader of this venture says it’s a response to concern over crime statistics.

So, which is more likely to win, crime or 25,000 Bibles? How would you bet on that match? Me? I’m betting on crime.

“But,” you object, “don’t you think the Bible is effective?” Yes, the Bible is so effective that for many years in China you could go to jail for owning one. Communism didn’t want to go head to head with the Bible, no indeedy.

So why am I betting on crime to beat out the Bible? Because the Bible only does some good when people read it. And I doubt that gang bangers, thugs, will say to one another, “Hey, that Bible some guy gave me the other day. I think I’ll put down my gun and review the Ten Commandments.” Won’t happen.

The American Bible Society distributes Bibles to every hotel/motel room in America. Which is a good idea. Lonely people with nothing to do might just pick up the Bible to see how it reads. If so, they have a chance of finding something hopeful.

I’ve seen Bibles in hospital waiting rooms and doctors’ offices. People there, hearing bad news, needing comfort, could very well appreciate, “Him that cometh unto Me, I will in no wise cast out.”

But a bunch of punks sitting around in somebody’s Momma’s kitchen, packaging drugs into baggies? Are they gonna let themselves in for, maybe, the Beatitudes? “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.“ Probably not. Guys oiling their guns for a planned drive-by, are they gonna edify themselves with ancient wisdom? No, they won't. Lots of the 25,000 Bibles will go straight into a trash can.

You say, “Yeah, but what if one out of all those Bibles falls into the hands of a person who reads, reflects, and shapes up?” OK. One life made right would exceed the value of 25,000 Bibles.