Lets recap. Biblical Ignorance is "where Christians are unaware of what is contained in the Bible and think that anyone or anything that comes in the name of God is Biblical." We have looked at three cause of Biblical Ignorance which are lack of Bible reading, lack of Biblical preaching, and lack of Biblical teaching. As I was thinking about the effects of Biblical Ignorance, I began to realize that there is an overlooked effect that many do not think about. What is it? Simply: Not testing everything.
In The Apostle John's first epistle, he writes, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1). Many false teachers have infiltrated the church in the first century and many believers are being deceived in believing false teachings. John was telling his readers, do not believe every teaching but test them. Even the Apostle Paul told the Thessalonian church, "Do not despise prophecies, but test everything" (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21). In Acts 17, Paul and Silas were teaching in Berea and the people were checking out the Scriptures to see if what they said was true.
How many people in your church do that? When your pastor preaches, do you read the Bible as he preaches to see if he is preaching the Bible? One of the great downfalls of the church is that we do not test everything. Whether is it from something we read, or heard from a preacher. If the people of Joel Osteen's church would actually read their Bibles, they would see he is not preaching a true gospel and the same thing goes with any false teacher.
This problem is not just in churches where a false gospel is preached but it could be in a Baptist church. Baptists are known as people of the book but sometime some of them do not preach the word and the people of the church do not check what the preachers says. This does not apply only to preaching but in reading Christian books, listening to Christian music (Amy Grant's "Better Than A Hallelujah" is a good example), and even watching Christian television/movies.
We should also test what Hollywood says about the Bible. Years ago, NBC had a mini-series on Noah, nothing like the Russell Crowe movie. It got ridiculed by a lot of people including Pastors because of its inaccuracies. Probably the biggest one is this Noah was set during the time of Abraham. Lot was in the movie. God was going to wipe out Sodom and Gomorrah. I do not remember any rock monsters though.
You see what I am getting at. We need to test everything. If we do not, we will be deceived by any teaching that comes our way. We will believe everything we read and see.
Showing posts with label Biblical Ignorance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Biblical Ignorance. Show all posts
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
What Causes Biblical Ignorance-Part 3
We have already identified the first two causes of Biblical ignorance as lack of Bible reading and lack of Biblical preaching. So the third cause of Biblical ignorance is lack of Biblical teaching. Some of you may be going I thought this was the same thing as preaching.
Preaching and teaching are similar in many ways, but they are also different. Preaching is primarily focused during a corporate worship service where the preacher preaches the Word and the people of God worship as they hear the word and sing songs prior to and after the sermon. Teaching comes in many forms and preaching is one of them. Biblical teaching is found in the following contexts: reading a Christian book, small group, listening to sermon/message on the radio/Internet, and even one-on-one discipleship.
If you go into a Christian bookstore, you see a mixture of Christian books written by different authors of various walks of faith. You got your Baptists, Charismatics, Arminians, people who say they went to heaven and came back, and fiction writers. People go into a Christian bookstore to get a book but they may not get Biblical teaching. They may get some false teaching such as the prosperity gospel which seems to be best sellers. They also may get some liberal theology that say your sin is no big deal.
Many Christians attend church but do not attend any Bible study outside a corporate worship setting. Do not get me wrong, corporate worship is important, but so is getting together with fellow believers and study the Bible. Whether it is a traditional Sunday School class or a small group in a home, there needs to be some form of Biblical teaching. People who read the Bible may have questions, correction, they will have questions. A small group setting is a good time for questions to get answered, which the same can be said for one-on-one discipleship.
What about listening to a sermon on the radio or Internet? Keep in mind, while there are a lot of great sermons on the Internet, they should not replace your pastor or the church you attend. Listening to Christian music, particularly contemporary Christian music is not a variable teaching tool. While there are many great songs out there, they are not a form of Biblical teaching. Our worship songs in corporate worship should not only express our love for God but also teach us about the gospel as we sing.
Anybody ever listened to Carman? Well, I did. He was one of my favorite singers growing up while almost everyone in my church did not like him, which I can understand why now. There was a story song he did called "Revival in the Land" where the devil is in hell watching the chaos mankind has inflected on the world through a big screen TV while sitting on his throne. By the way, this is from the music video of that song. What does that teach us about the devil? A more interesting questions is, who is the devil's cable provider?
Now that we have taken a look of the causes of Biblical ignorance, the question we should ask ourselves is, what are the effects of Biblical ignorance in the life of a Christian?
Preaching and teaching are similar in many ways, but they are also different. Preaching is primarily focused during a corporate worship service where the preacher preaches the Word and the people of God worship as they hear the word and sing songs prior to and after the sermon. Teaching comes in many forms and preaching is one of them. Biblical teaching is found in the following contexts: reading a Christian book, small group, listening to sermon/message on the radio/Internet, and even one-on-one discipleship.
If you go into a Christian bookstore, you see a mixture of Christian books written by different authors of various walks of faith. You got your Baptists, Charismatics, Arminians, people who say they went to heaven and came back, and fiction writers. People go into a Christian bookstore to get a book but they may not get Biblical teaching. They may get some false teaching such as the prosperity gospel which seems to be best sellers. They also may get some liberal theology that say your sin is no big deal.
Many Christians attend church but do not attend any Bible study outside a corporate worship setting. Do not get me wrong, corporate worship is important, but so is getting together with fellow believers and study the Bible. Whether it is a traditional Sunday School class or a small group in a home, there needs to be some form of Biblical teaching. People who read the Bible may have questions, correction, they will have questions. A small group setting is a good time for questions to get answered, which the same can be said for one-on-one discipleship.
What about listening to a sermon on the radio or Internet? Keep in mind, while there are a lot of great sermons on the Internet, they should not replace your pastor or the church you attend. Listening to Christian music, particularly contemporary Christian music is not a variable teaching tool. While there are many great songs out there, they are not a form of Biblical teaching. Our worship songs in corporate worship should not only express our love for God but also teach us about the gospel as we sing.
Anybody ever listened to Carman? Well, I did. He was one of my favorite singers growing up while almost everyone in my church did not like him, which I can understand why now. There was a story song he did called "Revival in the Land" where the devil is in hell watching the chaos mankind has inflected on the world through a big screen TV while sitting on his throne. By the way, this is from the music video of that song. What does that teach us about the devil? A more interesting questions is, who is the devil's cable provider?
Now that we have taken a look of the causes of Biblical ignorance, the question we should ask ourselves is, what are the effects of Biblical ignorance in the life of a Christian?
Monday, June 2, 2014
What Causes Biblical Ignorance-Part 2
Last week, we looked at the first cause of Biblical ignorance which we have defined as Christians being unaware of what is contained in the Bible and think that anyone or anything that comes in the name of God is Biblical. Today, we are going to look at the second cause of Biblical ignorance which is lack of Biblical preaching.
Now some of you are probably already thinking that you heard preaching this week in corporate worship where the pastor was passionate about what he was preaching and God moved in our midst. Others might say we had a great service because an athlete, who is a Christian, talked with our pastor and gave his testimony. Others may say, we sang songs to God all morning long. You may have been in a worship service this Sunday, but you may not have heard Biblical preaching. Your pastor may have read from the Bible but his sermon had nothing to do with the text. So many pastors are guilty of letting the text serve the sermon rather than the sermon serving the text. The point of Biblical preaching to proclaim what God has written in His Word and apply it to our daily life.
Some preachers will preach only to keep their numbers up. In some churches they will pick and choose what to preach from and skip over the rest of the Bible because they do not want to confuse their people. Problem is some people in the church do not even pick up a Bible to see what God has written through 40 different authors under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Some do not talk about sin because they do not want to offend people. That is where people in the church can fall into sin and they are not even aware of it because they do not read the Bible nor their pastor preach from the Bible.
Your pastor may be a gentle man who loves people, but may not be faithful in preaching the Bible. Paul wrote to Timothy that all of Scripture is "breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Bible is meant to be taught by faithful men so we can be equipped for works of ministry (see Ephesians 4:11-12). Christian, did you feel (not to base your salvation or Christian walk on feelings) equipped to do the work of ministry in the world around you? Have you ever felt convicted of sin from hearing the Word preached? Did you get to know more about God or know God better through the preaching of the Word?
In closing, remember the charge Paul gave Timothy after declaring that Scripture is God-breathed:
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths (2 Timothy 4:1-4).
Now some of you are probably already thinking that you heard preaching this week in corporate worship where the pastor was passionate about what he was preaching and God moved in our midst. Others might say we had a great service because an athlete, who is a Christian, talked with our pastor and gave his testimony. Others may say, we sang songs to God all morning long. You may have been in a worship service this Sunday, but you may not have heard Biblical preaching. Your pastor may have read from the Bible but his sermon had nothing to do with the text. So many pastors are guilty of letting the text serve the sermon rather than the sermon serving the text. The point of Biblical preaching to proclaim what God has written in His Word and apply it to our daily life.
Some preachers will preach only to keep their numbers up. In some churches they will pick and choose what to preach from and skip over the rest of the Bible because they do not want to confuse their people. Problem is some people in the church do not even pick up a Bible to see what God has written through 40 different authors under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Some do not talk about sin because they do not want to offend people. That is where people in the church can fall into sin and they are not even aware of it because they do not read the Bible nor their pastor preach from the Bible.
Your pastor may be a gentle man who loves people, but may not be faithful in preaching the Bible. Paul wrote to Timothy that all of Scripture is "breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Bible is meant to be taught by faithful men so we can be equipped for works of ministry (see Ephesians 4:11-12). Christian, did you feel (not to base your salvation or Christian walk on feelings) equipped to do the work of ministry in the world around you? Have you ever felt convicted of sin from hearing the Word preached? Did you get to know more about God or know God better through the preaching of the Word?
In closing, remember the charge Paul gave Timothy after declaring that Scripture is God-breathed:
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths (2 Timothy 4:1-4).
Thursday, May 29, 2014
What Causes Biblical Ignorance?
What are the causes for many in the church to be ignorant of the things in Scripture? I am sure there are a variety of answers to this question depending on who you ask. As I pondered this question, I came up with three things that will cause Biblical ignorance. In this post, we will look one of them and focus on the others in the next two posts.
The first thing that will cause Biblical ignorance is lack of Bible reading. It is no secret that Bible illiteracy is plaguing the church. Some pastors will say it is an epidemic across our nation. While that is true, we need to understand the church is the chosen people of God because of life and death of Christ. While American was founded on godly principles, we must understand that Christ died for the church and is head of the church. It should shock us that the people of God are not reading their Bibles faithfully and growing in their walk with Christ.
Lack of Bible reading can come in many ways. First, people in the church only reserve their time for reading the Bible during church time. Whether it is during Sunday School/small group and/or during the sermon, people read their Bibles only at church. They will remember where the pastor was preaching on but if you ask them about Bible reading during the week, you get a blank stare.
Second, people in the church will not read the Bible because it confuses them. Remember what Paul told the Corinthian church. The natural man cannot accept the things of the Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 2:14). Instead of reading the Bible for themselves and studying it, they put it away because only the "Super Spirit Person" can understand it. Does this sound like anyone in your church.
Third, people in the church will not read the Bible because it scares them. How many of you were scared when you first read Revelation? I admit I was at first because of the bad teaching that went with it and make it what God never intended it to be. Every time someone read the Bible from the beginning, they do great with Genesis and Exodus but when they get to Leviticus, they start getting a little sick to the stomach. In fact, many Christians skip the Old Testament because of how God is portrayed in it. They think God is love, which is true according to 1 John, but they see Him as a wrathful God, which is also true because He does not tolerate sin.
Lack of Biblical reading is one of the causes of Biblical ignorance which we will see the effects of it as we move through in this series. We will also take a look at the other two causes of Biblical ignorance in the next couple of posts.
The first thing that will cause Biblical ignorance is lack of Bible reading. It is no secret that Bible illiteracy is plaguing the church. Some pastors will say it is an epidemic across our nation. While that is true, we need to understand the church is the chosen people of God because of life and death of Christ. While American was founded on godly principles, we must understand that Christ died for the church and is head of the church. It should shock us that the people of God are not reading their Bibles faithfully and growing in their walk with Christ.
Lack of Bible reading can come in many ways. First, people in the church only reserve their time for reading the Bible during church time. Whether it is during Sunday School/small group and/or during the sermon, people read their Bibles only at church. They will remember where the pastor was preaching on but if you ask them about Bible reading during the week, you get a blank stare.
Second, people in the church will not read the Bible because it confuses them. Remember what Paul told the Corinthian church. The natural man cannot accept the things of the Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 2:14). Instead of reading the Bible for themselves and studying it, they put it away because only the "Super Spirit Person" can understand it. Does this sound like anyone in your church.
Third, people in the church will not read the Bible because it scares them. How many of you were scared when you first read Revelation? I admit I was at first because of the bad teaching that went with it and make it what God never intended it to be. Every time someone read the Bible from the beginning, they do great with Genesis and Exodus but when they get to Leviticus, they start getting a little sick to the stomach. In fact, many Christians skip the Old Testament because of how God is portrayed in it. They think God is love, which is true according to 1 John, but they see Him as a wrathful God, which is also true because He does not tolerate sin.
Lack of Biblical reading is one of the causes of Biblical ignorance which we will see the effects of it as we move through in this series. We will also take a look at the other two causes of Biblical ignorance in the next couple of posts.
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