Trusting the Bible Again: Why Jesus Demands Our Submission | Renée Sproles

Renée Sproles, guest on the Real Life Theology Podcast, delivers a compelling call to recenter Christian trust in Scripture on the person and authority of Jesus Christ. She begins by highlighting a growing cultural skepticism toward authority—especially religious authority—among young adults, illustrated by a satirical headline about a man praying to God while sitting three feet from his Bible. Drawing from her experience teaching parenting classes, she observes a shift in parental values from obedience and godliness to self-expression and questioning authority. This cultural moment, she argues, stems from Enlightenment ideals, the rise of digital technology, and real-world failures of institutional authority, all contributing to a worldview where personal experience overrides divine revelation. Yet, Sproles offers a hopeful solution: our confidence in Scripture must be grounded not in tradition or personal feeling, but in who Jesus is and what He said about the Bible. She emphasizes that Jesus affirmed the divine origin, permanence, and authority of both the Old and New Testaments, and that He appointed apostles with divine authority to write the New Testament. Therefore, rejecting parts of Scripture is incompatible with truly submitting to Christ. The episode concludes with a challenge to wholehearted obedience, framing submission to God’s word as essential to genuine discipleship.