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Biblical Apathy

By Jeremy Myers
4 Comments

Biblical Apathy

I often hear pastors and seminary professors bemoaning the widespread biblical illiteracy within the church today. I don’t think it’s the problem.

Is it true? Are people more ignorant of the Bible than they were 10, 20, 50, 100 years ago? Of course. There’s no denying it. Studies, surveys, and tests have proven it. For example, when I entered Seminary, they gave us an entrance exam on our knowledge of biblical and theological ideas, and then, as we neared graduation, they gave it to us again to see if we learned anything. Most of us did improve, of course, but the professor who proctored our exam said that over the years, the test has not changed, but the scores have steadily decreased. Both incoming and graduating seminary students know less than similar students from previous generations.

And this isn’t just a problem with seminary students. It’s true in almost all churches.

So why do I believe it’s not a problem? Here’s why:

What has ever-increasing Biblical knowledge ever done for the church? The main thing isn’t how much you know, it’s what you do with what you know. And I think that we live in a generation that looks at the scholars of our own day and the past and says, “Well, that’s great that they could recite the Bible backwards, but what did they do with that knowledge except for write a bunch of books and preach a bunch of sermons? Nothing? Well, then I guess I don’t need that knowledge.”

The problem facing modern Christianity is not biblical illiteracy, but biblical apathy. People don’t care what they don’t know unless they can see a direct link between learning something and using what they learn to love and serve others.

Just take a look at how many companies today are using “community service” benefits to attract young employees. That’s right. Companies used to offer health benefits, 401(k)s, and career advancement opportunities. But new and upcoming employees are asking, “Are you going to give me time to take what I am learning in this business and use it to help people in Africa? If not, I’ll look elsewhere.”

That’s the way the church needs to use biblical knowledge. We must show the direct link between learning something from the Bible and using what we learn to help others in need. If no such direct link can be made, then we should not complain when people don’t want to learn it.

So do you want to increase Biblical literacy? Then show how knowing the Bible will help transform lives, our communities, and the world. And this doesn’t mean more time given to application in the sermon. It means actually taking people out into the world to put the Word into practice.

Agree? Disagree? Let me know!

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: Bible Study, Discipleship

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Put Service Back in the Church Service

By Jeremy Myers
3 Comments

Put Service Back in the Church Service

Put Service back in the Church ServiceIn a previous post about cancelling your church service, one person commented that there were six other days for serving the community, and we should leave the Sunday church service alone.

I understand this concern, but the sad reality is that Christians do not use those six other days to love and serve their community. And another sermon series is not going to change this. Church leaders need to proactively show their members how to serve and who to love in the community, not just preach and teach about it.

Could this be done on Tuesday night instead of Sunday morning? Sure. But as we all know from decades of experience, less than 10% of the church will show up for a Tuesday night community service project. So once again, to get people out of the pews and into the community, the best time to do this may be on Sunday morning. Doing so is not really cancelling the church service; it’s putting service back in the “church service.”

Let’s look at this from the spiritual perspective. I’m fairly convinced that Satan doesn’t care too much if Christians have faithful church attendance. The more services we have, and the longer they are, the more delighted he is. Of course, he is just as happy if Christians don t get together with other believers at all, and just sit at home watching television.

And if that is the way Satan feels, God feels just about the opposite.

Just as God did not call us out of the world so we could sit at home watching television, He also did not call us out of the world so we could sit in a pew at church watching a sermon. The one thing God wants is the one thing Satan doesn’t: followers of Jesus who actually follow Jesus into the world.

So the reason for cancelling church services is not to just give people a break from church. It is to get followers of Jesus off the warm, padded pews in church, and out onto the cold, hard, concrete of the world where the people are.

How? Well, there is no one right way to do this. We have the freedom to be as creative and flexible as we want.

Maybe a good way to begin this is to have a regularly scheduled Sunday service where a service event is planned and announced in advance. Churches are notorious for having special Sunday events to get people to come to church. We have special speakers, choirs, and concerts. We schedule “Friend Day”  and “Back to Church Sunday.”  I recently saw one church in my area inviting people to attend “Orphan Sunday.”

I’m not fond of such special Sundays, but maybe if we can avoid the gimmicks one or two Sundays a month could be planned where the church does not try to get people into the pews, but out of them. You could call it “Back to Work Sunday.”  This might show people that the point of church is not to come to church, but for the church to go to the world.

If Christians are really concerned about orphans, rather than have a Sunday where we talk about orphans, we could have a Sunday where we go play with children in an actual orphanage, go participate in a fundraiser for adoptions, or host a family-fun day in the park for foster parents and their children.

If the leadership of a church was serious about reaching the people who don t come to church on Sunday, maybe a good strategy would be to find the places where these people already are on Sunday morning, and go join them rather than ask them to join us. Yes, you might end up tailgating at the football coliseum, fishing at the bass lake, or hiking mountain trails.

One church I am talking with, Mercer Island Covenant Church, cancelled their church service last March to either run or volunteer in the annual Rotary Club’s Half Marathon Run. They got a lot of positive feedback from the church members and the community, and met several community leaders in the process. They plan on doing the same thing again this year. That’s what I’m talking about!

I believe that if we genuinely participated in some of these things during the hours we were usually in church, more relationship building would take place in one month than often happens in an entire year of church services.

Do you know of any other churches that participate in community service or activities on Sunday morning? I would love to hear about them in the comment section below.

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: Books by Jeremy Myers, Close Your Church for Good, Discipleship, Theology of the Church

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Real Beauty

By Jeremy Myers
2 Comments

Real Beauty

Women today are inundated with images of beauty that they are expected to live up to. I have three daughters, and I wonder every day what pressures they will face as they grow up to look a certain way, have certain hair, or be a certain weight. I try to tell them that they are perfect and loved just as they are, but sometimes I feel like it’s my voice against the world. And it doesn’t help that most of what is shown on television and in magazines is doctored, not just surgically and with hours of make-up, but with Photoshop and other image editing programs.

To see what I mean, check out these links:

A post from over three years ago about the Dove Evolution Commercials.

Unattainable Beauty

Generation Diva

Finally, here’s a video which Jonathan Brink posted last week by P!nk called “Perfect” about the message we need to be telling all our girls.

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: Discipleship

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Church Cancelled Today

By Jeremy Myers
26 Comments

Church Cancelled Today

Church Closed TodayI have previously suggested that one of the best things a pastor could do for their church is cancel all church services. The reason would not be to shut the church down, but liberate the church to actually be the church in the community. People are so busy attending church, they don’t have time to be the church. So cancelling the services would free up their time.

But it is easy to predict what would happen if your church did this. Most of the members would go down the street to another church. And then the pastor would get fired by the few who remained.

So before canceling everything all at once, some small steps toward freedom might be necessary. For example, a church could cancel one Sunday service per month. And initially, to really surrender control and give the people freedom, nothing should be scheduled to replace the canceled service. On these Sundays, the people are simply given permission to not attend church. The pastor could tell the people that they are being given the Sunday off. They can sleep in, go golfing, or have an enjoyable morning with their family.

When that Sunday comes, the church doors should remain locked and a sign can be posted which says,  “Church service cancelled today. Enjoy your day and see you next week!”  Later, if the leaders feel they must plan something for the people do, they must first ask themselves if they are having control issues.

Then, once they are assured they are not, they should take a deep breath, and schedule something  unchurchy.  Tell the people that there are no requirements, but if they want to join you at the beach next Sunday, they are welcome. Or fishing on the lake. Or watching football. Or whatever. Just don t do anything with the Bible, singing, sermons, and prayer. Whatever you do, don t take attendance or an offering.

Cancelling a church service, of course, is done with purpose. It is to show the people that attending church is not what church is really about. Cancelling a service or two per month provides the church the opportunity to put the service back in church service. I’ll post about this later.

What do you think? Is this doable? What would happen if your church tried something like this?

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: Books by Jeremy Myers, Close Your Church for Good, Discipleship, Theology of the Church

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Human Trafficking Prostitution Ring Busted

By Jeremy Myers
2 Comments

Human Trafficking Prostitution Ring Busted

My wife and I are slowly trying to learn how to help girls enslaved in human trafficking as sex slaves. So occasionally, I will post updates about what we are learning. Martin Scott over at the Perspectives blog alerted me to the following news:

Sex-Slave Ring Busted in Mallorca, Canary Islands, and Madrid

Here is a quote from the article (This is a Google translation from Spanish, so forgive the oddities):

The organization captured a good-looking young Nigerian and scarce resources to those subjected to a “voodoo ritual” in their country of origin, which were committed to an oath to repay a debt of between 30,000 and 70,000 euros.

Were transferred by boat to Spain via Morocco or in plane clandestinely and with false documents, under the promise that the organization would seek a job to start a new life in Europe and not knowing that his fate was to be exercised prostitution.

Once in Spain, women living in captivity and were forced into prostitution under threats of black magic rituals, as well as by physical violence, rape and death threats to the girls themselves and their families in Nigeria. Several were forced to abort.

And remember, this isn’t just a problem in Spain or Africa. It’s happening right here in the United States. It’s going on in your town.

To learn more about Human Trafficking and sex slavery, check out some of these posts:

Human Trafficking Posts

  1. Sex Slaves
  2. Would You Fight Slavery?
  3. Rescue Russian Sex Slaves
  4. Rescue Russian Girls from Sex Slavery
  5. Stop Her Nightmare
  6. Another Girl Rescued Today
  7. Girls for Sale
  8. Goal Reached!
  9. I Want to be a Prostitute
  10. $52,000 raised!
  11. 31 Million Sex Slaves
  12. Renting Lacy
  13. More Than Rice
  14. Human Trafficking Ring Busted
  15. The Other Big Game
  16. Sex Slavery, Planned Parenthood, and Your Tax Dollars
  17. How to Minister to Prostitutes
  18. Wisconsin Woman Held as Sex Slave in Brooklyn
  19. Coked-Up Whore
  20. Human Trafficking has Many Faces
  21. Into an India Brothel
  22. You Need a Girl?
  23. Human Trafficking Media
  24. The Son of God is Selling Children
  25. My Girls Raised $300 to help stop Human Trafficking
  26. Rape for Profit
  27. Human Trafficking Statistics
  28. Help Rescue Girls from Forced Prostitution

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: Discipleship

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