In Broad Daylight
Sunday, October 19, 2025, is a day that is now written in history, forever more secure than the crown jewels of France. That is the day that the crown jewels of France, valued at $110 million, were stolen from one of the world’s most famous museums. When I think of an antiquities heist from such a renowned institution as the Louvre in Paris, my mind instantly goes back to the crime movies I saw in high school. Ingenious criminals mastered state of the art technologies to defy hidden laser security systems in the middle of the night. The thieves, as the clock with red digital numbers counted down the minutes and seconds until detection, would make their speedy getaways in sports cars, never to be seen again. That was not the case on October 19. On this now infamous day of history, about 30 minutes after the museum opened, men dressed as construction workers made their way up to the second floor of the Louvre and entered the Galerie d’Appolon by cutting through a window. Once inside, these not so cleverly disguised thieves cut open several displays and escaped back out of the window in four minutes time. They made their getaway with 8 priceless French treasures, not in sports cars, but on scooters! The world was stunned. How could France’s most important national treasures be stolen with a furniture lift, an angle grinder, and scooters in broad daylight?
If you want to experience fine art and priceless French treasures today, where else would you go? I am sure that the Louvre in Paris would still top the list, even though they are missing the crown jewels. Now let’s consider something of infinitely more value than old jewelry, the word of God. If you want to experience the word of God today, where would you go? I am sure that most people would say the church. After all, God made the church and God gave His word to the church and God expects the church to preach and propagate His Bible. But, like the Louvre, this priceless treasure has been stolen from the church in broad daylight.
And so, in churches across America, where the word of God used to be preached and taught in earnest, the Bible has been hijacked. People now gather to be enticed with popular music, lights, and showmanship. And in churches where crowds of faithful converts used to flock to hear eternal salvation, direct from the pages of the Scriptures, the Scriptures have been stolen. The crowds still come, but merely to be satisfied with seeker sensitive programs, Easter egg hunts, and door prizes. And in churches, once known for humble, selfless prayer, and calls to repent, like the Bible teaches, the word of God has disappeared. The people are now entertained with ostentatious preachers offering warm feelings through lengthy verbiage and pleasing power points. And in churches, where the word of God was once lifted up and shared to the ends of the world, the Bible has been pilfered. No longer do they raise sacrificial funds from the very bottom of their pocketbooks to send missionaries and Bibles to save lost souls. Instead, they solicit casual giving from their abundance to pay for all the necessary comforts for a contemporary church experience.
How could the church’s ultimate treasure, the word of God, be stolen in broad daylight? Well, you will have to answer that yourself because we are all guilty. Let’s bring the Bible back to church this Sunday and place it in broad daylight where it belongs.
“So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.” Acts 19:20