Downtown Washington in the meeting room of one of America’s most famous foundations. The organization is secular by anybody’s definition. One of the attendees started talking about a very old Bible story – about Joseph in the book of Genesis. When the story started with Joseph I didn’t know for sure which Joseph was being talked about. I asked, “Do you mean the Joseph in the Bible?” 

Then the storyteller got on a roll: “All Joseph had was a dream. He wasn’t a prophet. He wasn’t a king. His family abandoned him. His brothers sold him. He was thrown in prison. But he had a dream and that dream got him through the worst of times.”

The purpose of the meeting was to talk about the needs of students in city schools, and especially the needs of minority and underprivileged students. “What they need is a dream. If they have a dream they can make it through. We can help them turn their dreams into better tomorrows.”

The story from the first book of the Bible gave inspiration for meeting the needs and releasing the promise of modern American children. They need a dose of Joseph from the Bible.

The Bible is extraordinary. There is nothing else like it. Its inspired words are as old as history, and yet it is fresh and new and relevant to tomorrow’s struggles and opportunities.

When asked by questioners to explain who are evangelicals, I tell them that we are people who take the Bible seriously and believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord. “Jesus and the Bible” pretty much sums up the faith and practice of evangelical Christians. We believe and seek to live the very old Bible that is brand new and fresh every day.

This article originally appeared in the NAE Insight.

Leith Anderson

Leith Anderson is president emeritus of the National Association of Evangelicals and pastor emeritus of Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. He served as NAE president from 2007–2019, after twice serving as interim president. He served as senior pastor of Wooddale Church for 35 years before retiring in 2011. He has been published in many periodicals and has written over 20 books. Anderson has a Doctor of Ministry degree from Fuller Theological Seminary, and is a graduate of Moody Bible Institute, Bradley University and Denver Seminary.