Biblical Illiteracy - Part 1

Blessings to Israel presents, Discerning the Times, a program committed to encouraging you to view current events through the lens of the Bible.

Now, in honor of the one and only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, please join us for today's program. A couple of middle school kids were sitting in church one Sunday when the pastor stepped into the pulpit to begin his sermon, and that pastor had identified in the church that there was a problem within his congregation, and that problem was the topic for his lecture that morning. And so he begins his sermon by saying, the two greatest dangers in the Christian faith are ignorance and apathy. One of those students turns to his friend and says, dude, what's ignorance and apathy?

The other student, a bit bored, not really wanting to be there, turns to his friend and says, I don't know. And I don't care. Welcome to Discerning the Times. My name is Brian Thomas, alongside cohost, Dr. Bruce Logan.

It is such a joy to be with you once again this week. And folks, we are in an extremely dangerous and severe pandemic. And as I say that, you probably think COVID-19, but I am not referring to COVID-19. I'm referring to, as you heard in that opening clip, biblical illiteracy. And it is a problem that has been plaguing the church for many years, way too long. And so we're going to talk about it on today as how we can combat what is happening with biblical illiteracy. But before we get into that, I want to remind you that your eternal state is far more important than your current state. If you have never received Jesus Christ as Lord and savior, please come to him on today, receive his gift of salvation that he gave at Calvary by dying for our sins, come to him or otherwise you will spend eternity in the lake of fire. So will you please give your heart to Jesus Christ on today? All right, so we're going to pull in now my cohost, Dr. Bruce Logan, DBL, how you doing today? I'm doing really well.

It's glad to be back with you. Uh, and we have a very important topic that we're going to get into a topic that I'm thinking may ruffle a few feathers, but sometimes, uh, uh, you know, we need to have our feathers ruffled, you know, to kind of get us stirred up a little bit. So looking forward to today's discussion.

That's exactly right. Sometimes you have to have to ruffle a few feathers. Sometimes you have to step on some toes. I've even said sometimes I've spoken in churches and I stepped on my own toes and sometimes you have to do that, but we're going to tackle this topic today because again, I think it is a severe problem that we are seeing in the church. So that opening clip was from a message titled tickling ears in times of biblical illiteracy by pastor Stephen Armstrong. He was speaking at the verse by verse ministry, international Bible conference. So we're going to continue to listen to excerpts from his sermon.

Also, we're going to look at an article, a couple of articles that actually address this issue. And the first one is a title biblical illiteracy by Rick Dubose. So in this article, he begins by stating the apostle John begins his gospel by declaring in the beginning was the word which emphasizes the fact that everything God does begins with his word. Sometimes it's a new word that aligns with his revelation in scripture.

And sometimes it is a reminder of his already established word, but we can be sure that if God is doing something, it will begin with his word. You might've seen the GQ magazine list of 21 books. You don't need to read. I was not at all surprised to see the Bible in that list. The editors called it repetitive, foolish, and even contradictory. So again, that is a quote coming from biblical illiteracy by Rick Dubose. So doc we see here, and it's not a surprise that the worldly standard would say here in this GQ magazine that the Bible is repetitive, foolish and contradictory. But the thing that troubles us and we're really looking at today is the fact that the church, there are many who profess to be Christians, but yet they are just simply ignoring the Bible. Well, first of all, it should not be, it should not come as a shock to anyone that hears that statement from GQ magazine, you know, which is an extremely secular magazine. And it should not be a shock because the world has laid, uh, laid the groundwork and have let us know that they're against God's word and that they're coming against God's word and a full on head on attack.

And I mean, you'd only, you don't just see comments like that from GQ, but you see it from virtually almost every mainstream media outlet, whether it's a print, whether it's online, whether it's news media, whether it's television. And even as far as when you go away to college, when I was looking at someone talk yesterday, uh, about, uh, about the topic or of young people who were raised up in the church and going off and to get an education. And when, of course, you know, we want our young people to be educated. We want our young people to have a great career, uh, and have great opportunities. But when, when you are far too often, when they go away to college, they end up coming back for getting or are believing completely opposite of the things that they were raised up, uh, learning. And a lot of that, that has to do with the fact that the influence and the impact that the world is having, and this needs to be made clear, the impact and the influence that the world is having is greater and more impactful and more influential than what the church is having on our young people.

And that is a big problem. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

All right. So let's go back to pastor Steven Armstrong. He's going to speak to the fact that biblical literacy is an imperative. You know, that phrase, I don't know, and I don't care. That phrase could sum up the state of biblical understanding and Christian them today. I think if you were to engage a conversation with a Christian and suggest a topic of theology or ask a question about doctrine or something from the deep recesses of the Bible, I'm pretty certain that most Christians would turn to you and say, I don't know.

And I suspect, though they may not say it, that they're thinking, I don't care either. In fact, I think many churches no longer believe that biblical literacy is an imperative for Christians. Modern Christianity is largely dismissed and set aside the importance of Bible study as a regular routine of personal Bible study in the church. And I totally agree with Pastor Armstrong because I do think a lot of people who profess to be Christians, I don't think they really care about a lot of the the doctrines of the scriptures. And here at Discern in the Times, a lot of the focus of this ministry, we talk a lot about Bible prophecy, which is a challenging topic. I will admit that it does require in depth study.

And oftentimes I'll have conversations with people. And when it comes to the point of where really they're realizing that it requires in-depth study, they just really seem to just shrug their shoulders and just say, I really don't care. What does it matter? It'll all pan out in the end. Yeah, and I agree with you 100% on that. And a lot of that, and let's just face it, a lot of what you just described and a lot of what Dr. Armstrong described is a direct result of the lack of exegetical teaching and preaching from America's pulpits. Let's just tell it like it is.

Tell the truth and shame the devil, as the saying goes. Everything that we'll be discussing on this topic can be traced directly back to that one particular point. And again, a lot of it has to do with us as believers too, because people, messages about prosperity fail.

Let's just face it, it's part of our human nature. We want to hear about God's blessings, about how to be prosperous, how to live abundantly. You hear a lot of sermons about existential things like my haters, we're coming out, whatever that means. I never did quite figure that one out, but coming out from what?

I never really kind of got my mind wrapped around that one. And then here's another famous one, you want to take back what the devil stole, and that doesn't even register biblically at all whatsoever. Jesus took back what the devil stole, but we're still living under sin. Let's just face it, we still are dealing with our sin nature on a daily basis. These types of sermons make you feel good. You can get a good shout, get a good praise, you can get all of that, you can get all the emotion.

But in terms of substance and application, there's like zero that you can garner from that, if you really be honest with yourself about it. And that's a lot of what we see coming from most of our pulpits. And you and I have discussed off air recently in terms of, I'm just giving an example of what is happening over in Israel, something that has major biblical ramifications, significant biblical ramifications.

And you will virtually hear almost no mention of it from the average pulpit. And that's a problem. And things are being said in the media that are completely wrong, that are completely off, and we just don't even pay attention because we don't have a biblical worldview. So when we hear things that are false from the media, for an example, there's no connection there, there's no discernment, there's nothing within us to say, oh man, that's not right, that's wrong, that's not biblical.

Because we haven't been taught on that level. And it's a serious problem. And I would liken to this problem of biblical illiteracy. I like using the terms that the world uses. I normally don't like to borrow the world's terms, but in this particular instance, it's applicable.

Because this problem that we're facing in terms of biblical illiteracy among believers is systemic. And I'm sure we can all identify with that word. And then it's also at a pandemic level. Absolutely.

Yeah. And I agree with you, Doc. I was listening to a pull up a sermon just a few days ago from a church that I have ties to in terms of growing up. And the gist of the sermon was that God is so good. He woke you up this morning.

He brought you out. And here's the thing, don't get me wrong, folks, that is true. And that is something that we should be thankful to God for and be grateful to Him for. But God gives us His word because He wants us to go deeper than that, though. That type of message doesn't require you to dig through scriptures. I mean, that's just a given that we know God is good and we should praise Him and and celebrate Him and worship Him. But, you know, substance, I like that word that you use substance because a lot of messages today just don't have a lot of substance to it.

It's about, like you said, emotionalism to get people sort of stirred up into feeling good. And you talk about Israel. And I've heard from a number of people that have said, my pastor has not said anything about what's going on in Israel. And and as you said, it's just really sad. And I think to myself, even if you do not believe that it's related to Bible prophecy, even if for those who who claim Israel has no special place in the eyes of God, which is not a position that we hold.

And we've spoken on that in past episodes. But even if that was your position, it seems as though you would at least want to pray for your fellow man. I mean, there are still now over 200 people that are hostage in Gaza. Why would you not want to pray for those people's well-being? But as you said, I think it's a sad state of apathy, worldly influence and just biblical illiteracy to where many don't connect the dots.

They don't realize what God said concerning the last days and concerning the nation of Israel. So you hit on some great points there. It's the Ladies Luncheon hosted by Knowing God Ministries in Cary, North Carolina, a nourishing meal, encouraging conversations and an inspiring message to feed your soul. Our keynote speaker is none other than Tara Fuhrman, president of Knowing God Ministries.

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Register today at knowinggodministries.net. And I want to go back to this article and just share another excerpt. It states, quote, in recent survey by American Bible Society, only 16 percent of respondents said Bible reading is a part of their morning routine, while more than twice that number, 37 percent, said they start their day with coffee.

Wow. It goes on to say the lack of Bible first lifestyle may help explain why, according to recent findings from Barna Group, over half of all church goers are now unable to identify basic biblical priorities, including the Great Commission. And it seems the Bible knowledge gap continues to widen from generation to generation. It continues. I wonder whether what we've seen over the last few decades, the disintegration of the family, rise in drug and alcohol addiction and acceptance of societal sins, to name a few, are the result of a shift away from a Bible focus.

You know, Doc, this this is really disturbing, but I think he's he's spot on with it. And even thinking back to I can't remember the lady's name, but there was this prayer breakfast a few months ago. And this lady who claimed to be a Christian, matter of fact, it was it was a Christian event.

So it was a prayer breakfast. And she got up to speak and she was saying how she couldn't be late because her boyfriend, you know, rolled over in basically I don't want to get all into the details, but exactly what she said. But but basically she let us let the people know that she's living a life of fornication, but yet she's claiming to be a Christian. And she didn't have a problem.

She didn't see a problem with that. So that tells you how much the the people who are professing to be Christians or biblical, physically illiterate and being influenced by by the world. Yes, again, that was that that last statement in the last paragraph that you read or segment that you read really encapsulate much of what we've been talking about.

In fact, much of what we've talked about, even on previous topics, you know, is encapsulated in that one piece. And one of the things that stood out about that is the impact that this biblical illiteracy is having on the family. I'm actually in the process of writing a book series on this entitled The Mind, the Family, and the Church. And basically in the premise is that the family, the church are kind of like symbiotic or have this symbiotic relationship. In order to have strong families in the community, you have to you need a strong church in order to have a strong church, you need to have strong families. And if you can impact either or if you can impact the family, if you can attack the family, you automatically impact the church and vice versa. And if you influence the mind, which is what we're seeing from the media, if you distort our worldview, if you distort our thinking, if you kill our discernment, then you impact the family and the church.

And this is what we're seeing happening in our society. I was speaking earlier about the different types of sermons, for an example, that we hear often in different iterations. You hear different iterations about like, take back what the devil stole, for an example, or different wordings, but it actually always comes down to the same. Just yesterday, I heard somebody talk about how they're looking, they look to get a word from a prophet or a prophetess, right? And this kind of, and I listen to this, and this is kind of, it kind of encapsulate our discussion, because this was an individual that would much rather get a quote unquote word from a prophet or prophetess than the actual study, actually study the word. And then it reminded me of 2 Timothy chapter three, verse 16 through 17, it says, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished until all good works. And if you think about that, it's God is, the word of God is given to us for more than just helping us to feel good, helping us to be blessed and encouraged, because it says it is profitable for doctrine, which is big, which is what you have mentioned on a number of occasions, but it's also profitable for reproof and for correction and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect and thoroughly furnished until all good works. So you need more than just to feel good.

Sometimes, as we mentioned at the beginning, you need the toes stepped on, you need to be corrected. And then of course, even more importantly, we need to have sound doctrine, sound, exegetical teaching. And that's something that's grossly lacking on a systemic level in our churches.

Yeah. Man, it really grieves my heart when you really think about it, that in this survey, it says only 16% of respondents said Bible reading is a part of their morning routine, but yeah, twice that number said coffee is how they start out that day. So people rather have coffee than the word of God and folks, the Bible, this is God speaking to us. We're talking about the Supreme creator, the one who's above all things, the one who's infinite, and yet we do not take the time to hear from him.

And it just really grieves the heart. But this article also says it's time to make biblical literacy. It's time to make biblical literacy more than just a slogan. And to that point into what you just spoke on doc, I want to go back to pastor Armstrong as he's talking about the fact that Bible studies are becoming more and more rare in our churches today. Like an Oldsmobile Bible study is something that drove our grandparents to church, but not us increasingly. I think the church is the place where we gather to learn how to understand and apply things other than the word of God. Apart from a few isolated Bible studies that I'll see, or you'll see in a church here or there, I think most churches have moved on to something else in their use of the gathering. Our gatherings have been reprogrammed. They have become a place that favors things other than Bible study, things like popular activities of one kind or another, or services, musical events, cultural presentations, childcare, social work, youth entertainment, personal finance seminars, you name it. And like the money changers in the temple, we've turned this place into a place of business rather than a place of holiness. You know, doc, prior to COVID the pandemic coming, I heard of a church that when it came to Bible study, the Bible study was canceled because there was a percent, a small chance of rain in the forecast.

Not, not a hurricane, not like wicked tornado outbreak or anything like that, but just a chance of rain. And it turned out that day, it didn't even actually rain, but Bible study was canceled because of that possibility of rain. And since we've seen COVID I've, I've known a lot of churches that, that have just totally gone away from having in-person Bible studies.

They they're just doing virtual Bible studies now. So you see the, the necessity or priority of Bible study getting pushed further and further to the side. Again, that, that, that, uh, that clip that you just played was just so powerful. I mean, it was just so much in that, that clip in itself could be a whole entire episode.

It's really, you really will unpack it. But, um, just to say for short, uh, in short that everything he said, I agree with a hundred percent. It's just the emphasis on Bible study. Uh, and I'll just summarize it, you know, just like this, the emphasis on Bible study has been, has been, has been let down tremendously. I mean, it is completely de-emphasized and other types of services and other types of programs and musical events and various other types of program has been elevated above Bible study.

And I think that's a major problem that have generational ramifications to it and something that we definitely need to get back to. I just know like, like I've been in places where, um, you know, that have Sunday school for an example, and you will see the three, four, five people in adult Sunday school class, if that many, but when it comes time for service time, you know, the sanctuary is full. I mean, and I'm like, well, how, how is this, how, how is these people, you know, how is this many people here for service, but can't be here, you know, 45 minutes earlier or by, for Sunday school.

And because the emphasis is not there, the desire, the hunger is not there. And I'll say this in closing, I once attended a class on the book of Genesis. It was, I was visiting just another church of a friend of mine and he was doing a study on the book of Genesis verse by verse all the way through. And I'm saying, oh wow.

And I remember mentioning to the class that I remember a time that when I first got saved, I would have crawled a mile on broken glass on my hands and knees to get to a study on, on, uh, the book of Genesis all the way through verse by verse, you know, and it was barely a handful of people there and it just kind of blew me away. But nevertheless, the problem of biblical illiteracy is something that needs to be addressed in the church in a major way. Yeah. Yeah. You're definitely right.

It is a major problem. And one of the things as we were preparing for this episode or this series that we're, we're diving into, I remember reading that was a survey done of, if I remember correctly, there were Bible students, not just little kids, but of some age, I think they were teenagers. And it said that there was one student who said that he believed or he thought that Joshua was the son of a nun. And I was in that flabbergasted, you know, Joshua, you know, his, his father was, was named none, but, but yet he thought he was the son of a nun.

And then there was another one that thought that King Saul was the same person as Saul of the new Testament who was struck down on the road to Damascus. So we just see a major problem again, within the professing body of Christ. And as you said, the lack of emphasis on Bible study, the lack of, of emphasis on Sunday school, it just shows really, I think where, where people's hearts are, but we want to encourage folks out there listening to, um, get a relationship with God to where you really desire to study and to feed on his word. And, uh, you will be blessed by it as you go, as you grow closer and closer to our Lord. So doc, we're going to park it there for this week, but we're going to pick back up on this topic next week, because again, it's so important and we have a lot more to say, so look forward to being back with you again next week. Amen.

I can't wait. And to our listeners, thank you for tuning in. Please come back and join us again next week as we continue to discern the times by view and life through the window of the Bible. Until then, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, bless God's great nation of Israel and to the only wise God be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Thank you for tuning into discerning the times. Please come back and join us next week as we continue to encourage you to view current events through the lens of the Bible. Until next time, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, bless God's great nation of Israel and seek first the kingdom of God. Discerning the times is presented by blessings to Israel.