At one point in his ministry Jesus became frustrated with the cities of Galilee.  Matthew tells us, “He began to reproach the cities in which most of his miracles were done, because they did not repent….’You, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? 

You shall descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day.  Nevertheless I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.’” (Matthew 11:20-24))

Chilling.  Sodom was blasted out of existence because of its notorious wickedness.  I have stood among the stony bones of Capernaum.

Capernaum was the home of Peter.  You can still see the foundation of his house.  It was Jesus’ headquarters when he began his ministry.  During one whole evening Jesus patiently healed almost every sick person in the town. (Mark 1:32-34)

And then, this pronouncement of judgment.  Because the people of Capernaum were glad to accept the benefits of Jesus’ miracles but they didn’t want to change the way they lived or the manner in which they related to God.  At least they might have been thankful.  But apparently they were not.

I began thinking of this when I saw the results of a recent survey by the American Bible Society and the Barna Research Group.   It gave a list of 100 American cities rated by how “Bible-minded” they are.

The definition of “Bible-minded” is the percentage of people who self-report that they read the Bible regularly (over the past seven days), and the number of people who attest that that they believe it.

There is nothing surprising about the results.  Cities in the South or Midwest rank higher, while cities in the East and the West are generally less “Christian” in their orientation.  We knew that already.

So, which cities rank highest?  Chattanooga is number one, followed by Birmingham, Alabama; Roanoke, Virginia; Springfield, Missouri; and Shreveport, Louisiana.  When I told my daughter-in-law this news—she is from Chattanooga—she said, “That’s not the Chattanooga I know!”  Maybe that just says that the importance of the Bible to the citizens of Chatanooga is only high because the other cities in the country are so low. 

However, there is no doubt that if you are in any of these cities, you can sense the difference.  The five lowest ranked cities are, at number 96, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, San Francisco, Boston, Albany, New York, and at rock bottom—Providence, Rhode Island. 

Just because you’ll want to know, New York is 89, Chicago is 74, and Los Angeles is 73. 

Think of Boston, for example.  Boston was the home of the New England Puritans.  The Bible teaching was solid.  Christianity ran deep.  Only a few miles away, Jonathan Edwards held forth each week in Northampton.  Not miracles perhaps, but the Word of God.  The Great Awakening was born around Boston.  And Christian faith forged a social consensus that impacted the nation.

Is there is a correlation between the level of crime and violence and the frequency or paucity of Bible reading?  That would be interesting to investigate.  But the study does reveal that the bigger the city, the fewer the people who read the Bible.  For example, only three cities in the top 25 had populations over one million.  And 19 of the top 20 cities has a Christian college within it. 

Whatever one makes of this study, we may perhaps conclude one thing.  Maybe the way to change the place where you live is to start reading the Bible.  One day at a time, one person at a time.  Might it make a difference for the present health of your community and for the future of your town?  It would be an intriguing thing to try.  Maybe reading God’s word really has some benefit!  Maybe you could make the difference.

Dr. Rick Perrin is Chairman of the Board of World Reformed Fellowship and senior pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Cherry Hill NJ.