“David Jackman makes the nice comparison between a church and a car. So, to pursue the metaphor, we might put the Bible in the boot or trunk of the car. It is then brought out from time to time and looked at briefly. But it is never seriously examined. Most of us have been to churches like that, where you have to look hard to find a Bible, or a Bible that has more than a ‘bit part’ in church life. Then we might promote the Bible from the boot to the backseat, a place where – like a backseat driver – it can interfere and be irritating, tiresomely questioning our driving or our directions. But it is still no more than an irritation or a diversion, to be ignored in the hopes that eventually it will shut up and get on with the crossword or sudoku. Then again we might put the Bible in the front passenger seat, a place from which its contribution might be really quite helpful, reading the map, looking at the signposts, putting a CD on to keep us awake, changing the radio channel. But for all that, we are still making the decisions that really matter, how fast to go and in what direction. So what we really need to do in our church life is to put the Bible in the driving seat. For when the Bible is in the driving seat of church life, then God is in the driving seat.”

The Priority of Preaching by Christopher Ash on page 108