In this series of postings, I’m focusing on issues that Christians are facing today. “Bible Illiteracy” is definitely a major topic that needs our attention and self-examination.
As Evangelical Christians, we are correct in our concern about the secular worldview's rejection of biblical Christianity. But I do want to say that we should give some urgent attention to a problem much closer to home, and that’s biblical illiteracy in the church worldwide. This is a problem that we need to examine within ourselves and ask God to help us fix.
Because the Bible isn’t routinely read by many in our society, we’ve lost the knowledge that was once considered a part of society. Over the last several decades, the loss of Biblical speech in the public sphere, including government and public schools, is one reason the culture has become so biblically illiterate.
Parents cannot transfer their responsibility to teach the Bible to their children to the church congregation, no matter how faithful and biblical it may be. God assigned parents this responsibility, and children must see their Christian parents as teachers and fellow students of God's Word. Then churches are to reinforce the concepts and precepts of what is being taught in the home.
Churches must understand the urgency of biblical teaching and preaching, and not allow compromise of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We should never allow biblical illiteracy in the church or see an absence of biblical preaching and teaching in our homes and churches. Christians who lack biblical knowledge are the products of churches that marginalize biblical knowledge and this has to change.
According to data from the Barna Research Group, sixty percent of Americans can't name even five of the Ten Commandments. Fewer than half of all adults can name the four gospels. Many Christians cannot identify more than two or three of the disciples. George Barna, president of the firm said, "No wonder people break the Ten Commandments all the time. They don't know what they are."
It’s hard to get a clear picture of the problem at times, but while Christian leaders like to point fingers at “the world” regarding Biblical illiteracy, there are plenty of ways that the Christian culture is responsible as well, because of the lack of encouraging people to read the Bible. Remember, we won’t believe more than we know, we won’t live higher than our beliefs, and we’ll never know and believe if we don’t study the Word of God.
The worst part of biblical illiteracy is that many people neglect to read the Bible, and they just don’t miss out on biblical knowledge, they miss out on God. We’re privileged to worship a God who makes himself known to us in words contained in the Bible. Plus, we are even more privileged to have constant access to those words in printed book form and electronically on phones, computers and tablets.
“Biblical literacy” has been defined simply as the acquisition and accumulation of facts about and contained in the Bible, and the ability to recall those facts immediately. As Christians, the facts that we learn are very important, but the application to our daily lives solidifies what we know in our heads together with what we know in our hearts about who God is to us.
It’s not just facts and the ability to recall them, but the ability to use them to create meaning about life, about God, about the world, and our place in all of it. It’s one thing to read a book, and another to be able to recall facts contained in that book. But it is quite another thing entirely to allow the narrative contained in that book to shape our thinking, our hearts, and our mindset.
God doesn’t expect the same degree of biblical mastery or knowledge from all his people. We’re not all called to be pastors or teachers. But we’re all called to know Him, to hunger for Him, and to commune with Him.
Besides prayer, there is no better way to know and commune with God than to hear his voice through the Scriptures. We can’t solve the crisis of biblical illiteracy alone. But, with God’s help we can encourage more Christians to immerse themselves in the Bible. When this is first applied to ourselves, then we are able to enlighten others to the power and importance of God’s Word.
Be diligent and always look for the truth.
Blessings,
Pastor Chuck
As Evangelical Christians, we are correct in our concern about the secular worldview's rejection of biblical Christianity. But I do want to say that we should give some urgent attention to a problem much closer to home, and that’s biblical illiteracy in the church worldwide. This is a problem that we need to examine within ourselves and ask God to help us fix.
Because the Bible isn’t routinely read by many in our society, we’ve lost the knowledge that was once considered a part of society. Over the last several decades, the loss of Biblical speech in the public sphere, including government and public schools, is one reason the culture has become so biblically illiterate.
Parents cannot transfer their responsibility to teach the Bible to their children to the church congregation, no matter how faithful and biblical it may be. God assigned parents this responsibility, and children must see their Christian parents as teachers and fellow students of God's Word. Then churches are to reinforce the concepts and precepts of what is being taught in the home.
Churches must understand the urgency of biblical teaching and preaching, and not allow compromise of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We should never allow biblical illiteracy in the church or see an absence of biblical preaching and teaching in our homes and churches. Christians who lack biblical knowledge are the products of churches that marginalize biblical knowledge and this has to change.
According to data from the Barna Research Group, sixty percent of Americans can't name even five of the Ten Commandments. Fewer than half of all adults can name the four gospels. Many Christians cannot identify more than two or three of the disciples. George Barna, president of the firm said, "No wonder people break the Ten Commandments all the time. They don't know what they are."
It’s hard to get a clear picture of the problem at times, but while Christian leaders like to point fingers at “the world” regarding Biblical illiteracy, there are plenty of ways that the Christian culture is responsible as well, because of the lack of encouraging people to read the Bible. Remember, we won’t believe more than we know, we won’t live higher than our beliefs, and we’ll never know and believe if we don’t study the Word of God.
The worst part of biblical illiteracy is that many people neglect to read the Bible, and they just don’t miss out on biblical knowledge, they miss out on God. We’re privileged to worship a God who makes himself known to us in words contained in the Bible. Plus, we are even more privileged to have constant access to those words in printed book form and electronically on phones, computers and tablets.
“Biblical literacy” has been defined simply as the acquisition and accumulation of facts about and contained in the Bible, and the ability to recall those facts immediately. As Christians, the facts that we learn are very important, but the application to our daily lives solidifies what we know in our heads together with what we know in our hearts about who God is to us.
It’s not just facts and the ability to recall them, but the ability to use them to create meaning about life, about God, about the world, and our place in all of it. It’s one thing to read a book, and another to be able to recall facts contained in that book. But it is quite another thing entirely to allow the narrative contained in that book to shape our thinking, our hearts, and our mindset.
God doesn’t expect the same degree of biblical mastery or knowledge from all his people. We’re not all called to be pastors or teachers. But we’re all called to know Him, to hunger for Him, and to commune with Him.
Besides prayer, there is no better way to know and commune with God than to hear his voice through the Scriptures. We can’t solve the crisis of biblical illiteracy alone. But, with God’s help we can encourage more Christians to immerse themselves in the Bible. When this is first applied to ourselves, then we are able to enlighten others to the power and importance of God’s Word.
Be diligent and always look for the truth.
Blessings,
Pastor Chuck
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