Biblical Illiteracy - Part 2

And the reason is because modern Christians are looking for something more than just more relevant.

If I never hear that word again in connection with church or sermons, it won't be too soon. Relevant. Practical advice, as they would say. Life coaching, stirring speeches, pep talks, comedy shows, coffee shops, rock concerts.

Things that will help us cope with modern life, they say. But along the way, the church has lost an appreciation for why Bible study is so important, so critical to our development as Christians. Jesus himself said in Luke 8 20, he said, and it was reported to him, your mother and your brothers are standing outside wishing to see you. But he answered and said to them, my mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it. Jesus' test, not my test, Jesus' test for who his family is is a simple one.

His test is those who hear the word of God and do it. Jesus' family was outside and they were expecting some favor from Jesus because of their earthly relationship. But Jesus said the standard for favor from the Lord and Savior is not based on earthly relationships. It's based on the one who hears the word of God and does it.

That's who he extends his favor to, according to scripture. On the topic of biblical illiteracy and the fact that it is plaguing the church and is something that we really, really need to combat in the times that we're living in. So we will continue with that on today. But before we get into it, I want to remind you, as we always do, that your eternal state is more important than your current state. If you have never received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, I encourage you to receive him today. Otherwise, you have to pay the penalty for your own sins.

Which means the lake of fire for eternity. So if you've never received him as Lord and Savior, please come to Jesus Christ on today. All right, Doc. Well, we're continuing today to look at biblical illiteracy and you and I have had a lot of private conversations on this topic. And we decided it would be good to have a series on it because, again, it is such a plague and and we really, really need to get better in this area when it comes to the church.

Absolutely, 100 percent. And as a matter of fact, the clip that you just played kind of summarized many of the conversations that we've had in private on this particular topic and in sharing some of our personal experiences. And he just knocked it out of the park in that regard. He mentioned the term of relevant. He hates the term more relevant.

And I can't tell you how many times I've thought that exact same thing, how much we kind of dislike the term more relevant. And the fact of the matter is there was a current, I'll never forget, it was about a year ago, I believe, and I was teaching a class on the New Testament studies. And I was teaching, whenever I teach the New Testament studies, I always like to start by teaching that gap of time before the intertestimonial period, or they call it the silent year, that 400-year period in between the Testaments. And I was just teaching some of the history of some of the background and one of the students said, how was that, quote unquote, relevant for me today? And that kind of like threw me, you know, just because understanding that the fact that God was prophetically moving during that time and setting the stage for the fullness of time to come, I don't understand how that is not relevant. Right. You know, so, you know, so anyway, so he kind of when I listen to that clip, it brought back a whole lot of memories, most of them bad.

Yeah. And and, you know, and I think that whole excuse for that whole slogan of relevant is really an indication of how a lot of people view the faith is that it's a me centered faith, meaning what is it doing for me as opposed to we are here to worship God. That is why we follow God. That is why we follow the Bible. The Bible is about him.

Yes, he is going to bless us if we follow him. But our number one priority should be to get to know him and to live and to serve for him, not about what he can do for us. But as you said, everything in the Bible is relevant to our lives. And that is one of the things you often hear when it comes to the topic of Bible prophecy. People say, well, that's that's just stuff way out in the future. That's not relevant for today. And we know that that's just simply not true and people's eyes should be opening as they see what has been happening in our world over the last few years and what is taking place right now in Israel.

I should begin to open. But again, that opening clip was from Pastor Stephen Armstrong. The title of it is Tickling Ears in Times of Biblical Illiteracy. So we'll continue listening to excerpts from his sermon, along with excerpts from an article that I'll read through titled Biblical Illiteracy, which we got from Bible Engagement Project dot com, written by Rick Dubose. So I want to begin by sharing where he writes, quote, We have broken free from the limitations of the printed page and now have the Bible in all its versions on our computers, tablets and smartphones. No matter where you go today, the word of God is as close as the device in your pocket. But despite the ease of access to the word and the familiarity of the language, fewer people are actually reading it, studying it and especially living by it. It may be that our focus on numerical growth allowed, maybe even required us to use our calendars, our clocks and our creativity just to get people in the door. And by accident, we have in some cases and in some ways de-emphasized scripture.

Simultaneously, we've designed many of our children's programs more for keeping a child's attention than for discipling them. And Doc does a lot right there, but he again is spot on. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

He is spot on. And again, I was just having a discussion about this here just this past week with someone. And when you stop to think about it is that we live in an age in which we have access to information like no other period in human history. I mean, I remember growing up, we used to have, well, my kids were little. I used to buy these, what was it, 24, 25 volume sets of encyclopedias that every so many years had to be updated over the protect encyclopedia Britannica. And there was Encarta.

There was another one. I can't remember right off the hand had multiple volumes. Now you can just take your smartphone and have all of those volumes in a nanosecond.

You can Google information. And when it comes to scripture, we have access to any question, any amount of information, Greek, Hebrew, you name it, at the palm of our hand. But yet the increase of biblical illiteracy have grown exponentially in spite of the fact that we have access to so much technology. And real quick, I would like to just give an example of something I recently experienced. It didn't have anything to do directly with the Bible, but it speaks to what we're talking about indirectly because I actually had this conversation actually in a Sunday school class here earlier this summer. And here in the state of Ohio, there was an issue. It was called issue one. It made national news, right? And vote yes on issue one.

And everybody in all the churches around, they were promoting it from the pulpit. You got to go vote. You got to go vote.

This issue, they're trying to take our voting rights away. So I said to myself, you know what? I'm going to go to Google and I'm going to find out what this is all about for myself. And I opened up Google and I just went straight to the state attorney general's website. I said, well, let me just read this bill for myself.

And it didn't take me like three seconds to realize just from reading it for myself what it was actually all about. And what it was, it was just about wanting to change the state, how you amend the Constitution. In the national, you have to have two-thirds states in order to have an amendment to the Constitution. But in the state of Ohio, you just need a 51%. So they wanted to make it 60% to make it commensurate with the national. And it didn't have anything to do with taking away voting rights.

It had everything to do with when you want to amend the state of Ohio Constitution. And I picked that up in like three seconds just from reading and just reading the bill for myself. And I liken that to what we're discussing in terms of reading or learning the Bible, this issue of biblical illiteracy, because I had access to the truth at the palm of my hand.

And I accessed it and I just used what I had access to. But we won't do that when it comes to anything but most especially the Bible. It is kind of sad. It is.

It is. It shows what's more important to us. The Word of God is not on the top of the priority list for most people. And that's sad even for the Christians. But last episode last week, you talked about Sunday school and the importance of it. And you mentioned how you see very few people in Sunday school, but then the church would feel for worship service. And that is a growing trend. So back to this article by Rick Dubose, he states, quote, in the 1960s, more people attended Sunday school with this emphasis on strong biblical learning than the worship service.

So here that folks, I want to read that again, just for emphasis. In the 1960s, more people attended Sunday school with this emphasis on strong biblical learning than the worship service. As worship attendance has increased, learning forums have decreased. I believe in the power of worship, but it should not come at the detriment of biblical learning. As Pentecostals, which this author, he's a he's of the Pentecostal faith or denomination. He continues as Pentecostals. We believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to be our strength and our teacher. But if we ignore his textbook and its prophetic promises, we hinder the Spirit's ability to accomplish his will among us.

The Bible is the Spirit's toolbox. But again, once again, what you just read, it was just a home run because it's exactly true, because I experienced that, you know, even myself in ways in which we, you know, can see, you know, a handful of people coming to adult Sunday school class. And then you've got to keep in mind that if adults are not attending Sunday school, there's a there's a consequence to that, because that means that the children aren't attending Sunday school because the adults, the children can't drive themselves there.

They have to be brought there by the adults. And so it's a trickle down effect. And so this is what we're seeing. And there's just such an emphasis. But when the service time comes, the sanctuary is full. And or, you know, if it's if it's a larger church or a medium sized church, you know, you see you see quite a large percentage of more people in service than you do in Sunday school. And that demonstrates that where our priorities are, our priorities are having a good service, being a part of service, you know, getting our good worship on. And but there's no priority. Learning and studying God's word is something that is not prioritized. And that is something that is a major problem. And we're seeing the ramifications of that increasingly so in our culture and in our society. I agree with you and I want to encourage the listeners out there.

I want to challenge you. If you go to church and you don't take notes, I want you to start pulling out the writing utensil pen and pad and start taking notes. And if you're in a church that really in which you cannot take notes. And what I mean by that, if you're in one of these entertainment type of churches where the sermon is pretty much how you're going to come out and how you want to get the victory and all your enemies are going to be put down to where there's really no no expository type of teaching.

If you're there, then really you need to look to go on somewhere where you will receive teaching because we need to be able to go in to study God's word. And even during worship service, yes, there is a part of it that is worship, but then there's also God's word that is being spoken in the sermon. And that is something that we should be able to take notes and study from. And then when you have Sunday school and Bible study, that's where you dive deeper and you can have dialogue with your brothers and sisters in Christ.

So I just want to challenge people to do that. So back to this article, it states in the section of what is biblical literacy, it states, quote, what does it mean to be biblically literate? In one sense is a deep understanding and a comprehension of the Bible as a series of books connected over millennia that reveals God's plan for salvation. But you cannot demonstrate biblical literacy simply by passing a test to really understand scripture. You must first understand that it is the living text God designed to be our spiritual sustenance, our daily bread. Hebrews four twelve says the word of God is alive and active. A life devoted to God is the best demonstration of biblical literacy.

So, again, is vital, folks. We need biblical literacy. So now I want to go back to Pastor Armstrong again. He's speaking on this topic of biblical illiteracy and he asked the question or addresses the question, what if no one is teaching the word of God? But what if no one is teaching the word of God anymore? What if Christians are not hearing the word of God when they come to church? How is the modern Christian going to gain Christ's favor if he or she never hears the word of God properly explained? How can you do what the Lord requires you to do if you don't know what he said?

That's the fundamental issue. Teaching the Bible to Christians is the unique and irreplaceable responsibility of the church. If the church is not going to teach Christians the word of God, who is?

Where are you going to hear that? That's the essence of the issue I want to deal with this morning and later this afternoon. The church has abandoned or is at risk of abandoning its unique God-given responsibility to feed Christ's sheep. Now, to be fair, many Christians will still engage in personal and corporate Bible study and and do that in a diligent, consistent way.

They seek out Bible teaching churches like this one. They pursue personal study. But even then, there's a question. Even then, a question remains for those of us who value Bible study.

How much study is enough? And so that hits on, Doc, what we've been talking about when you're in a place where it's pretty much a TED talk or it's just something to stir up emotionalism. You're you're not being taught the word of God.

Yes. And one of the things that I've noticed down through the years is that there's just a complete lack of I'm talking from the average pulpit. There's some exceptions. And I want people listening to this and just realize that I'm not painting every church in America with a broad brush. You know, just where the shoe fits.

OK, but but, you know, we do have to acknowledge that this is a very systemic problem. And why or how often there has it been that you or how often is it that you will hear a sermon for an example, a series of sermons on Sunday morning on unpacking the Book of Romans, for an example, all the way through verse by verse. And I'm talking about in an expository fashion where you answering all the five W's and an H. What is the five W's and the H? The who, what, why, where, when and how, you know, of the biblical text, where you're unpacking the text in context and explaining it in a way that it was understood or intended by the original author. And so how often do we hear that the book of any book of the Bible, Romans, Matthew, Daniel, Revelation, Genesis? I'm talking on Sunday mornings from the pulpit and expository teaching and preaching from the pulpit where people are learning the word of God in an in-depth, theologically sound manner.

I mean, it's just something that just does not occur very often. And I am a firm believer that the best way for believers to learn the Bible is to study it from an expository fashion. In other words, most of the sermons that we hear on the average Sunday morning are topical. And not that I'm anti-topical, not anti-topical because there are some topics that are very good and very, quote unquote, relevant.

And there's that term again. But like, for example, I don't take issue with sermons dealing with God's role and responsibility and what God expects from family living, husbands and wives. I mean, that has its place, obviously. But I'm talking about learning the Bible, learning the nuts and bolts of Scripture, learning God's purpose and plan for humanity, being able to discern the signs of the times that we are living in. The only way that that can occur is if we study the Bible from an in-depth, in-context expository fashion, and it's rare that you hear any type of expository sermons from the average pulpit. And that is a major problem that has contributed to our, or the systemic lack of biblical literacy.

Yeah, I agree with you. And as you were talking about not hearing expository messages on certain books of the Bible, I heard I was there and personally witnessed a pastor telling someone to stay out of the Book of Revelation. And then the one he was talking to, another minister, he said, and Daniel. And, you know, it's just it's just flooring to hear ones who say they're called by God to give his word. And yet they're telling people to stay out of certain books of his word.

It just boggles the mind that that type of thing is happening. But when we see, as I stated last week, people who profess to be Christians and they're saying things like Joshua was the son of a nun. And when they're seeing things like Saul, King Saul of Israel is the same as Saul, who became Paul in the New Testament.

We do have a major problem. And I am glad, Doc, that you said that this is not to say all churches, because there are still some out there who are teaching and studying God's word. And the Bible says God is always going to have a remnant.

And that remnant is still present. I applaud Bishop Woodin. And if you're not familiar with him, I encourage people to go out and listen to sermons from Bishop Patrick Woodin, the pastor of the Upper Room Church of God in Christ.

We feature him often on this program. But since the Israel conflict has taken place, I know of at least six sermons, entire sermons that he has dedicated to that very topic. And on the other hand, I hear people saying their pastors haven't said a single word about it, not even a prayer. But yet he's not only given prayers, but he's given sermons dedicated to that at least six that I can count right now by way of Bible studies and two Sunday morning services. So there are some out there who are, but we just need to encourage others and individual people to read your Bibles and to be more dedicated to the word of God.

So in the past, in the final couple of minutes. If you don't mind, I would like to interject something on something that you just said. And forgive me for that, but because it's something that you just said resonated with me because you were talking about the Book of Revelations and the Book of Daniel. And you were talking about how people are told not to read the Book of Revelations. And it reminded me of a personal experience that I had in my young Christian walk where a minister, an elder of the church I was attending, told me point blank, stay away from the Book of Revelation. So me being the type of person that I am, I went home and I opened up the Book of Revelations and I didn't get three verses in. And I began to see where it says blessed is he that reads and he that understands the word of this prophecy. So here on one hand, I have an elder telling me not to stay away from it.

And on the other hand, I see the word of God telling me I'm going to be blessed if I read it. So, I mean, that just kind of shows you the level of disconnect that we have, you know, basically coming from our pulpits. Excuse me for interrupting, but I just had to get that in.

Oh, no, that's that's no problem. I mean, that's good because, yeah, there is a disconnect. And I think we just have to really say what it is. A lot of just being influenced by Satan. And it's really unfortunate. But but we do have those who are Christians and even pastors who are being influenced by Satan because anyone that's that's really being guided in the right way or I should say anyone that's following God in the right way. It's not going to tell anyone to stay away from any particular books of the Bible.

So so thank you for that. So to close things out, I want to share just a couple of lines from this article. It states, quote, Biblical literacy is about reading and comprehending the scripture in your own language. Biblical literacy is also about speaking, raising up biblical, biblically literate Christians means we share and compare our biblical understanding with others in and outside the church. The final component of literacy is being able to think it.

And that's, again, coming from the article, Biblical illiteracy by Rick Dubose. So, Doc, we're going to park it right there, but we're not done with this topic. We have a lot more to say on it. So we're going to continue sharing what God has placed on our hearts concerning biblical illiteracy.

But any final thoughts that you have in the final minute? Well, I just want to say this, this is such a powerful topic and something that we can really spend the rest of the year speaking on. But the fact remains that this is a very, very important topic. And the problem of biblical illiteracy in our church is getting worse because it's impacting the next generation. And that's the one of the things that if you're believers, if you're a pastor, if you're a minister, this is what I need you to take away if you don't take away anything else. Because this problem of biblical literacy is literally impacting the children of this generation. They are literally having more or being influenced and impacted more by the world than they are by the church. And that is a serious problem. You cannot prepare a child to be able to deal with the world and with the fiery darts of the enemy unless they are firmly rooted and grounded in God's word. Because the power and the influence of the enemy is going to overtake them. And it's just that simple.

The influences that they have from the media, from pop culture, from the music, from all of these things are having much more of an impact on our children than we are having from the church. And that is a major problem that has to be addressed, can no longer be ignored. And I appreciate this topic and discussion. I look forward to picking it up next time.

All right. That is very true. And that is the reason why we have today so many who profess to be Christians, but they are blaming Israel for what is taking place over in the Holy Land. We know what the Bible says concerning that land. We know what the Bible says concerning the return of Christ. But if you're not reading your Bible, you're not going to connect the dots and therefore you're going to be influenced in the wrong way by the media and by the world.

So that is why we encourage people to view these things through the lens of the Bible. So we're out of time for this week, but please come back and join us next time as we continue to discern the times by viewing life through the lens of the Bible. Until then, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Bless God's great nation of Israel. Until the only wise God be glory through Jesus Christ forever.

Amen. Thank you for tuning in to 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.