Ep 211: Why bother with the Bible?

The Bible is the most printed book in history, but it's not read much today. How could an old religious book be relevant in the modern world? We meet someone whose life changed dramatically through an encounter with the Bible.

Our guest: Richard Borgonon: Richard has been in the Lloyd’s of London insurance market for over 45 years and he’s held various international industry leadership positions, including being Chairman of a Lloyd’s broking firm. Today Richard runs his own broking and consulting company and is an enthusiastic entrant in classic car rallies. However, Richard now spends the majority of his time sharing the Bible with senior city executives, having co-written The Word 1-2-1, a set of user-friendly notes which help people engage with the person of Jesus

Click here for more information on the Word 1-2-1.

Click here for more information of the Word 1-2-1 in Australia.

Invest in Bigger thinking for as little as US$1 per podcast on Patreon.

Bigger Questions asked in the conversation

Richard, you work in insurance. Now I also used to work in insurance, now some people think that insurance work is very boring. There’s even a website, insuranceisboring.com. So when you meet people and you say you work in insurance, do people’s eyes glaze over and think you are really boring?

Smaller Questions

Well, to kick off Bigger Questions we like to ask a couple of smaller questions. And today we’re asking Richard Borgonon about why we should bother with the Bible, so Richard, I thought I’d test you on “how much people bother with the Bible today in Australia’

Richard’s story

Now Richard, it does seem that many people in Australia, and indeed in much of the world, don’t bother with the Bible. Yet the Bible is very important to you, and you share it with senior executives around the world. But the Bible wasn’t always so important for you - so tell me did you grow up with a religious background?

The power of the Bible in action - Lennox story

So the Bible became more important to you, you thought it was worth bothering with. But there was a particular incident when you really saw the power and impact of the Bible when you introduced one of the world’s leading mathematicians and leading Christian author John Lennox to a leading European insurance broker a number of years ago. Can you tell us what happened at this meeting?

How did this subsequent meeting go? What was the impact of the Bible on this person?

John 1:1-4

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 He was with God in the beginning.

3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

So what difference did it make when the broker read these words for himself?

So what happened at the end of that dinner?

Impact of Reading Bible 1-1

Now Richard, you work in the City of London, with successful business executives, people who have it all, wealth and career and maybe a classic car or two - surely they don’t need to bother with a book like the Bible?

That passage from the Bible from John 1, says, ‘In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.’ So in what way have you found life through engaging the words of the Bible?

The Big Question

So Richard, why bother with the Bible?