This is the last post in my short series of posts on Biblical illiteracy. Here are the other posts:
- 2013 Post about Biblical Illiteracy
- Is Biblical Illiteracy a Problem in the Church?
- 15 Reasons Biblical Illiteracy is NOT a Problem in the Church
As we have seen, there are lots of reports that people are becoming more biblically illiterate.
But I am not convinced that the statistics are true, that we really are becoming more biblically illiterate. It all depends, really, on how a person defines “biblically illiterate,” and I am not convinced that the traditional definitions and tests we use to determine biblical literacy are all that correct. I sort of think that the real problem with biblical illiteracy is how we define and test for biblical illiteracy. For example, I am not sure that knowing Bible facts is the same thing as biblical literacy. From one perspective, it could be argued that people are more biblically literate today than ever before!
I know, of course, that such a statement might be controversial, and so let’s just leave that idea alone for now and agree with the common consensus. Let us concede their claim that people are becoming more and more biblically illiterate. For the sake of argument, let us just assume that this is the case.
I do not see it as a bad thing. I see this as a good thing.
Why?
Because we are finally giving up the illusion that Bible knowledge is the key to living the Christian life.
Frankly, I would love it if more Christians put down their Bibles.
People already know enough. The real issue is that they don’t do enough. They don’t put into practice what they already know.
When pastors and professors bemoan the lack of biblical literacy in the church today, they are telling people that the most important part of the Christian life is knowing more. But it isn’t. The most important part of following Jesus is actually following Jesus into loving and serving others.
Look, the call for biblical literacy is not actually about biblical literacy. These pastors and professors believe that biblical literacy will lead to biblical living. They see people not living very biblically, and not really having a biblical worldview, and so they think that if they can raise the level of biblical literacy, this will raise the level of biblical living as well. But it is not working. There is some question as to whether it ever really did work.
If I had to choose between a Bible expert who could recite large chunks of Scripture from the Greek and Hebrew yet who did not show love toward his neighbor, and someone who barely knew anything about Scripture but who did show love to his neighbor, I will choose the second person every day of the week.
Ideally, it would be nice if everyone was a Bible expert AND they practiced the Bible, but nothing in this life is ideal And in my experience, it seems that Christians often prefer to put off loving other people because they fear they don’t know how, or won’t be able to answer a question properly, or won’t know how to deal with certain objections or issues that often come up. And so, in a good and godly quest to prepare for the act of loving and serving others, they just attend one seminar after another, one training session after another, one class after another, and many of them never get around to actually loving the other person.
What often happens in churches and groups that place a heavy emphasis on biblical literacy is that the goal in the Christian life seems to be little more than the accumulation of Bible facts and theological trivia.
So I am thankful that studies and reports are showing that people are more and more biblically illiterate, because I think it finally raises the question of whether that should have ever been the goal in the first place, and whether or not biblical literacy ever really even “worked” in helping people live biblically.
The goal is biblical living; not biblical literacy.
If we strive for biblical living, we also get biblical literacy. But if we strive for biblical literacy, we end up with neither biblical living nor biblical literacy. We need to stop chasing biblical literacy and start pursuing biblical living.
A lack of biblical literacy is not the problem; a lack of biblical living is. And to live according to the Bible, we might need to stop studying the Bible. Living out the Bible begins by getting our noses out of the Bible.
This can be seen in three points:
- When we strive to become biblically literate, there is never any end to it. When the goal is biblical literacy, there is never an end to the studies, seminars, and conferences. You never know enough. It becomes an addiction of sorts.
- Biblical literacy doesn’t automatically lead to biblical living. Most people who call for biblical literacy don’t actually want biblical literacy – they want people who follow and obey the Bible. This is a good thing. But the problem is that the same studies which report that people are more biblically illiterate than ever before usually also report that even those who know a lot about the Bible are not actually living that much more biblically than people who are ignorant of the Bible. So if biblical literacy isn’t “working” among those who have it, why are they trying to export it?
- Biblical living very often leads to biblical learning. The call for biblical literacy is putting the cart before the horse. We’ve got the order backwards. People often think that you have to learn the Bible before you can live it, but I think that what we are beginning to see is that you actually have to live it before you can learn it. Yes, I know, this seems impossible. How can someone live something they have not learned? Well, they do need to learn a little bit, and the truth is that everyone pretty much already knows that little bit. So they don’t need to learn more until they have learned to live what they already know. Then, as issues comes up, as questions arise, these call them back to Scripture and Bible study and Christian for answers and ideas.
I call this “on the way” teaching. Or it could be called “Just in time” learning, or “On Demand” learning. This is the best way to learn something. You don’t need to learn something until you need it, and you don’t know what you need to learn until it comes up.
Here is how this works: You go out and you love or serve somebody. You put into practice the little bit you do know. And when an issue or question comes up that you cannot address, you say, “That is a great question. I don’t know. Let’s discuss it more together. What do you think? Let’s read this book. Let’s invite some others into this question and see what they say.”
In this way, you don’t come across as a know-it-all, you praise and honor the other person for their great question, and then you model for this other person the importance of ongoing study and learning and most of all, the importance of a community of relationships.
On the Way Learning was Modeled by Jesus
On the way learning is a beautiful way of learning that is modeled, of course, by Jesus. Jesus didn’t spend three years teaching His disciples in a classroom before sending them out. No, He told them a little bit, and then sent them out, and then when they came back, they debriefed and told Him what they saw and heard, and He taught them a bit more, and then sent them out again.
People don’t need more Bible learning. They just need to go out and live what they already know. Then, if they need more learning, well, they know what they need to learn and so it will mean that much more to them.
And how much does a person need to learn before they go out? I believe that pretty much everything a person needs to know to begin living biblically can be taught to them in 20 minutes. Maybe less. If I was really pressed for time, it could probably be taught in one minute or so. (See below)
The bottom line is that people know enough already. They don’t need to know more. They can go out and start loving and serving right now. When they do this, they will WANT to learn more when they see the usefulness and importance of what they already know.
So send them out! Encourage them to go out. Liberate them. Praise them for what they do. God is not saying to the church “Let my people learn,” but rather, “Let my people go!”
1 Minute Biblical living
If I had one minute to tell you everything you need to know to begin living biblically, I would say something like this:
If there is one thing Jesus reveals over and over, it is that you are loved. More than you can ever possibly know. This means there is nothing you can do to mess up. Nothing. So relax. Enjoy life. Enjoy people.
And as you come to the realization of how loved you are, try to show that same love to other people. You don’t need to correct their sin. You don’t need to invite them to church. You don’t need to tell them to do anything. Just love them. Love others as you have been loved and as you would want them to love you.
The rest follows from love. Everybody can love, and once you have learned to love, the rest just follows naturally.
Go ahead, read that out loud and time yourself. It’s about 1 minute, right? And living out what is said in those few sentences will take the rest of your life. And guess what? Even if you can’t list the four Gospels, the 10 Commandments, or the 66 books of the Bible, but you live out what is said above, you will be living biblically, even if you are technically “biblically illiterate.” Who can complain about that?
I believe it is not a problem that people know less about the Bible than they used to know. All I really care about is that people try to live out whatever it is they do know. How about you? What do you believe about this topic? Weigh in below!
Your desire to be provocative is mere foolishness Jeremy. The average American watches 5 hours of TV every day. Regarding the reading of the Bible, the Religious News Service reports that, “If they do read it, the majority (57 percent) only read their Bibles four times a year or less. Only 26 percent of Americans said they read their Bible on a regular basis (four or more times a week).” The level of biblical literacy is abysmal. People can’t & won’t apply what they don’t know and believe. But they certainly apply the secular values they bombard themselves with every day from TV. Scripture doesn’t promote knowledge aside from application,. What you are advocating is foolishness writ large.
“If you stopped learning now you wouldn’t live long enough to put into practice what you already know.” – Fenelon
Yes Keith, there is truth to that (I highly respect the writings of Fenelon), but we don’t read or learn something once and then it’s permanently fixed. The Apostle Paul himself, while in prison, asked for the writings & parchments. It is a continual process. There is a small percentage of people fixed on Bible knowledge (typically fundamentalists), but, by far, the overwhelming number of people are embarrassingly ignorant of Scripture.
Hmm, biblical living potentially includes slaughtering neighboring nations and taking their women captive as extra wives. I’d far rather people pursue Jesus-like living.
Chuck, all of those Old Testament stories need to be understood in context. They are obviously not a blanket prescription on how we are to live. You are very correct that Jesus models the perfect way to live.
Jesus also instructed His disciples with the Old Testament.
Chuck, of course! You know me well enough to know that is exactly what I was saying, and the longer series of articles basically makes the point that Jesus is our model.
That could be a problem for some people.
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Yep. A big problem.
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The problem isn’t “the Bible.” The problem is the Old Testament and the epistles of the New Testament. If we followed only the words of Yehoshua, there wouldn’t be a problem at all.
If you don’t follow the Pauline epistles you will drift into error and false teaching.
Hey! It’s my first time visiting your blog, and I left the post with a question:
How can we pursue biblical living if we don’t know what the Bible says?
For me personally, my life changed when I started reading the Living Word and seeking to understand it more. It continues to bless me with insights of the heart–comfort, peace, guidance and love, but more than that, I’ve learned about who God is and how He works in our lives; it’s a continual and wonderful unraveling. In short, His word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Well, that’s my weigh in. God bless!
I think to make a valid comment one must read carefully what Mr Myers has said, not what we interpret his meaning to be in the light of our preferences.
I suggest that the key to Mr Myers post is the phrase he has used ” putting the cart before the horse “.
He is not talking about diminishing biblical knowledge, he is talking about priorities and development.
In the NT, Letter to the Hebrews, the writer chides the Jewish Christians that they are babes living on milk and need to be weaned onto solid food. It appears that the milk is the constant teaching and study on basics, repentance and salvation. Reading on, we find out that solid food is faith in action, the example being Abraham who left his home and went out in faith to God’s leading. Get on with it, get going, is the message.
And I think this is what Mr Myers is pointing out.
Someone will probably quote the famous phrase where Paul tells Timothy that scripture is inspired and valuable for teaching the truth, convicting of sin, correcting faults and right living.
Indeed.
But then Paul goes on to say; so that anyone who belongs to God may be fully equipped for every good work.
Equipping for good work is the scriptural project . Good work is the enterprise.
Once we are equipped for a task, we wouldn’t spend all our time then filling a storeroom with more and more equipment so we can admire our collection,would we? Surely we would get on with the task and use the equipment.
Ah! The voice of reason. I’ve been following your comments since you’ve been commenting on this blog and you are always wise and reasonable, which is often lacking in social media and blogging.
Yes, Jeremy is not arguing for diminishing biblical knowledge, but for putting it into practice. Those who do not put it into practice do not understand the Bible. Not at all. Or else they must be consciously choosing to do the opposite of what Jesus said. Knowledge and understanding are not necessarily the same thing.
Neville – you wrote:
But then Paul goes on to say; so that anyone who belongs to God may be fully equipped for every good work.
Speaking of equipping. Whose job is that? Let’s see what Paul said:
11And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherdsc and teachers,d 12to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,e to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
So the job of the evangelists, shepherds and teachers is to equip, NOT to lecture them about the dangers of too much equipping, or to tell them to be busy bodies for the church, it’s to equip them. I don’t see very many teachers or shepherds equipping. I do see them shaming, controlling and manipulating, and it becomes very easy to do this if they are unequipped. What also happens without enough knowledge? We are like children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. This is why the evil one LOVES messages about do do do while downplaying knowledge. What is our only weapon against him? The sword of the spirit, which is the word of God(Ephesians 6).
What did Jesus do when He was tempted in the wilderness? He quoted the word of God. And He had to know ALL of it to be prepared for whatever the evil one was going to thrust upon Him. Just imagine if Jesus had said that biblical knowledge wasn’t that important, that it was more important to just ‘love’ and not be concerned if that knowledge was based in truth. Would He have still overcome Satan’s temptation? In resisting the devil, He picked up the sword of the spirit. Here all I hear is that we pick up the sword of the spirit too much. I pray that people who read this aren’t deceived by this teaching.
Dave, I can’t help but comment; that intemperate and thoughtless language about pleasing satan and deceiving do not at all help in our discussion to rightly understand the Christian walk.
Edward de Bono coined the phrase ” lateral thinking” and I take it that Mr Myers is challenging readers to do some lateral thinking and critically examine what you yourself called ” dead orthodoxy “.
The challenge is; the way in which over the years, even centuries, the clergy system ( I agree with you ) has made the Christian walk into a formula. Even the scriptures have been tampered with, to conform to the formulaic mindset with all those numbered chapters and verses which were never part of the original inspired writing.
You seem to have made an assumption about my disposition. Let me as briefly as possible help you understand the reality.
I constantly study the bible and I value bible knowledge. I have explained that position enough times on this site. I am not anti-knowledge, I read a lot and have a personal library of over two hundred books.
In the congregation that I belong to, we had a preacher who preached for 40 minutes every Sunday on the Book of Acts verse by verse for 12 months. He was determined that we should have the detailed knowledge of scripture because he claimed this book showed how the church was to appear in action.
Towards the end of the year, my wife died of cancer. The preacher never said a word to me. When I appeared at the church meeting he walked past me without a word. In all the years and months of caring for my dying wife, and then burying her, he never came near me or asked about my predicament. I was not a stranger, I was a member there for 12 years.
I do try and understand where you are coming from Dave. You appear to have suffered from spiritual abuse.
Please try and understand where I am coming from. You see, the disparity between knowledge and action cuts deeply in me.
Do I want to obediently wield the ” sword of the Spirit ” indeed. Do I want to be able to give a well founded answer for the hope within me. Most certainly. Do I want to walk and act everywhere I go, so that God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven. Yes I do. To the best of my limited knowledge and weak ability.
Neville, So sorry to hear about your wife’s passing and the lack of response from that preacher. We have known two similar preachers. They read, studied and preached, but on a scale of one to ten their people skills ranked in negative territory. Another fellow I used to know told us about a preacher his church once had. The guy knew the Bible frontwards and backwards and could preach excellent sermons, but would not talk to anyone in the congregation. He had an unlisted phone number and didn’t give it out to people in the church. If one wants sermons, those are available online and on television. Most people need more from a “pastor”, and from those of us who follow Jesus. People need others who show up, in person, bringing the love of Jesus. When that is absent, very few care what the person knows about the Bible. As one friend says “They know nothing.” Didn’t someone have something to say about keeping your light under a bushel? It gives light to no one.
Thanks for the kind reply Sam. I don’t want to hold it against that individual but his actions have made an impact on my view of the clergy system.
Writers like Mr Myers convince me that a new reformation is needed and is on the way.
Yes, hopefully these things will change. There are those times when others are truly open to what we say and do. Those times include times of crisis, pain and sorrow. Those moments can indeed be teachable moments, the moments when what we say and do can make deep and profound impressions. I would venture to say that those are the “sermons” most likely to be heard, most likely to be forever remembered. The one who spends countless hours preparing to preach and many hours preaching, but misses the opportunity to “do” what Jesus himself did and so clearly told us to do, never understood what he spent so many hours, sometimes a lifetime, studying.
I too have been in a situation very similar to yours, not with a wife, but with both parents. Thankfully, as with you, I did not allow those purveyors of religion to dissuade me from following Christ, as has so often happened with many I know. However, I was persuaded of their profound ignorance of the Scripture they seemed to know. The Word is Life. Where the Life is absent, the word becomes meaningless.
How well I remember the man I knew who spent a lifetime as a preacher. After he retired he admitted to his wife that he had never really believed what he preached. Preaching had been his profession. He knew the Bible. He could quote large portions of it. But he never believed it. He died without hope. His story is not unique. I know of many such stories. May we forgive these poor, lonely, hopeless souls.
Neville,
My condolences to you. I’ve known people like this in organized religion as well. Not a good thing. For what it’s worth, when I’ve seen it, it’s usually a church leader, and it’s usually someone that was raised in and grew up in the…..’christian sub-culture.’ Maybe their Dad was a Pastor, and/or they were raised in religion schools, with lots of rules and regulations. I think growing up ‘in a bubble’, and having a long list of ‘do’s and don’ts’ are often part of the equation.
Thanks for the reply Dave. I know what you mean because I am a product of the church “sub culture “.
Mr Myers, like all of us, is not the fount of all correctness but I found his writings a help in a new look at the culture that I accepted without question for so long. He ( and others ) has convinced me that a new reformation is needed and it is on the way with God’s hand all over it.
The comments sections on the posts in this series have been interesting and at times unsettling. Although some feel you’re only trying to be provocative, I see that you are trying to challenge all of us to do more than attend church services and Bible studies. Those two items pretty much define most of the Christians I know.
We once lived on a block where four other Christian leaders lived. One was a professor at a Christian college. One was an associate pastor at huge mega church. One was the dean of a prestigious seminary. The fourth was a lay leader and Bible study teacher.
None of these folks knew their neighbors. Three of them did not get along with their neighbors. One of them would not respond if greeted by any neighbor. Two of them had Bible studies and church meetings at their homes which attracted large crowds that blocked parking in front of their neighbors’ homes and sometimes their neighbors’ driveways. Those things are only the better parts of their relationships with their neighbors. However, they were very regular in church and Bible study attendance.
Most of the non-Christians I know have similar stories. Most of them know at least enough about Jesus and the Bible to know those types of behavior don’t look like Jesus’ command to love our neighbors. They don’t know how many Bible verses we know or how many Bible studies we’ve attended, but they do know whether or not we love them. If we don’t, we’re giving them a message for sure, a witness so to speak, but it is not spelled J-E-S-U-S.
Rather than focus on those who do not show Jesus, my wife and I try to focus on Jesus, his message and his love, then try to show that love to those around us. Yeah, it even extends to cranky insurance representatives when our claim is messed up, the crazy person who lives in the next block, and “Christians” who never mention Jesus but always have lots to say about their favorite politicians and which minority groups should be thrown out of the country.
Sam,
I’ve known people like this too. I like to call it ‘dead orthodoxy.’ They believe the ‘right things’ but they don’t have the appearance of producing fruit of the spirit. Rather, they are sometimes stuck up snobs, materialistic, and often have a very patronizing, haughty view of others. However, the people I’ve known like this, their problem wasn’t too much knowledge of God, I believe it was the opposite. They really didn’t desire to know God at all. Sure, at SOME point in time, they learned the vernacular of the culture(christianeze or churchianity) but once they became pros at ‘church sub-culture’ and politics, they put it on cruise control. They never learned anything else, they just repeat the SAME teachings over, and over, and over. It’s just cliche after cliche. If you happen to attend all these bible studies, are they learning anything new? No, that would take time and effort, they just grab a random bible passage(or a passage from the series) and use it as a springboard for regurgitating a message they’d heard 200 times and spoken 200 times.
So it wasn’t too much knowledge of God that was the problem, it was ‘vain repetition.’
i once read & can concur that Bible study & theology is often ambiguous. i become prideful when i consider my knowlege of the Bible sufficient. as Solomon said much study weaties the bones & that “The toil of fools wearies them; they do not know the way to town.” study is wonderful but it’s clear that Jesus humbly modeled active obedience as well as belief. i think the design is a high & Spirit led…ambiguity unless in community for me
The disciples had spent three years watching and learning from Jesus. As disciples, they knew their goal was to learn to think, speak, act and live as the Rabbi did to the best of their ability. They may have never understood all the theology but, they sure would have known that all Christ did was motivated by compassion and love for the people. That (and their love for Him), would be the motivation behind their taking the Gospel to the people as tasked by Him.
Not being from that culture it is hard for us to understand what being a disciple meant. The best illustration is that of an apprentice. One who is apprenticed spends time learning from the Master and then begins to try and do what the Master does. It is a learning experience that requires time and practice. What would happen if the apprentice never begins the “doing” and wants only to continue learning? They wouldn’t truly be an apprentice. They would only be a learner and never accomplish the goal set before them.
There is an important place for study and learning but, at some point we must begin the doing.
I wholeheartedly agree with Jeremy in that it is infinitely more important to learn how to live responsibly, honorably and compassionately than it is to Bible “smart”. (I realize that I said it differently that Jeremy did, but, to my understanding, the meaning is very similar.)
I have heard it said many times in the past, “The Bible is like the driver’s manual for life.” Let’s examine that a bit deeper. To say that a”you must read your Bible every day to live well” is like saying, “You must study your driver’s manual every day to be a good safe driver.” I ask you, when is the last time you studied your driver’s manual? How often do you study your driver’s manual?
Let’s take an example from this. How did you learn how to drive? If you were anything like me, you learned most of how to drive by getting in the car and actually driving. (Of course, at first, you had a teacher and a guide sitting next to you as you learned to drive.) You learned how to watch ouit for hazards by actually driving and watching for them. Of course you were required to read the driver’s manual so that you could know the rules of the road, and also to pass the driver’s test. But, realistically, I would imagine that very few licensed drivers spend much time reading theei driver’s manual after they got their license. The purpose of studying the driver’s manual was to help prepare you for driving. The purpose was NOT just so you could know your driver’s manual by heart. Learning to live correctly is much the same way. You may do some studying, but most of life is learned in the living. Some of us learn slower than others.
I was raised in a “Christian” home. I would study my Bible quite a lot. I used to say, “I only want to study the Bible, I don’t want to study a book about the Bible, I only want to read and study the Bible.” I spent much time reading and memorizing the Bible. I was very proud of all I thought that I knew about the Bible. I considered myself a strong Christian. I would look down on the “fallen” people and avoid them. However, I wouldn’t look at all the shameful thoughts and practices that were part of my life. I was also so afraid of what other people would think of me. I never dreamt of being real. I don’t think I even knew what that meant.
Well, years passed, many years. Eventually I committed a crime and was arrested. I went through the criminal justice system and had to face judges, PO’s, 24 polygraphs. I drug myself through some intense periods of deep dark depression. I realized that I was also a “fallen” person, just like those that I had judged years ago. I also went through 12 years of counseling and 10 years of probation. Those were the most horrendous times of my life. Yet they were the best times of my life. That is when God became real to me. It wasn’t because I was faithfully reading my Bible. In fact, I wasn’t reading my Bible at all because I had given up reading the Bible. Part of going through the Criminal treatment system was my learning to truly live, to put aside religiosity, and just live a real life based upon truth, honor, love, compassion. My counselor, who guided me through those 10 years of probation, was like a second father to me. He taught me much about how to truly learn to live.
I wouldn’t trade that period my life for anything. I gave up a religion of studying a holy book for living a real life based upon navigating through life’s experiences. I’m no longer afraid of what people might think of me.
My main message here is to get your nose out of the book and start experiencing real life. Learn to be compassionate, love your enemies, care for those around you. Use what you already know to truly live your life with true meaning.
you wrote:
I have heard it said many times in the past, “The Bible is like the driver’s manual for life.” Let’s examine that a bit deeper. To say that a”you must read your Bible every day to live well” is like saying, “You must study your driver’s manual every day to be a good safe driver.” I ask you, when is the last time you studied your driver’s manual? How often do you study your driver’s manual?
To me, this sounds like man’s wisdom. What was Jesus’ wisdom? He told us to pray like this:
…..give us this day our daily bread.
So, to me, it sounds like if we don’t ‘consult the manual about driving every day’ perhaps that is sin?
????
Right! Or any sort of activity… climbing, sewing, cooking, swimming. Book reading and study is great, but nothing helps us learn quite like doing.
Jeremy absolutely—-it’s about getting on with the business of living and experiencing it. Yes! This is where we discover life’s abundance!
I absolutely concur with your wise words Jeremy and Neville and Sam. We must be doing and not just sitting under teaching and not going out, and the doing is so summed up in your lovely 1 Minute Biblical Teaching – love, love, love. The two commandments that Jesus exhorted us to follow – love God with everything you are and have, and love your neighbour. Biblical knowledge is great but useless if we not doing those 2 things; and, yes, Bible knowledge can help you understand those two things better, but it can also cause a lot of confusion (as we can see from many comments above).
If we truly love others well, they will be more likely to come along side us and follow us as we follow Christ Who loved loved loved. The really liberating thing to know is that we do not have to institutionalize them or be institutionalized ourselves. Religion is not the goal, but a genuine relationship based on selflessness.
I can just imagine the prophet Hosea shaking his head if he saw this largely anti-knowledge post.
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”
Jeremy wrote:
People already know enough. The real issue is that they don’t do enough. They don’t put into practice what they already know.
No Jeremy they don’t. Not even close. Not even REMOTELY close. I’ve visited dozens of churches, today, they are ALL… I mean every single stinking one of them is moderately to rabidly anti-knowledge. All you hear there are cliches, over, and over, and over. The person ready and able to give a defense for the hope that is in them… EXCEEDINGLY RARE. And what’s the most common cliche of all? We all know too much and need to be doing more. The irony when I hear this is, WE ALREADY ‘KNOW’ there’s ‘too much knowledge’ it’s the broken record heard across all of US christendom. WHY is it a broken record? Because those in charge want to keep people ignorant and easily manipulated. And Satan often empowers those who deliver this anti-knowledge sentiment, because THEN he is able to deceive them. My opinion is the evil one is probably cheering this series of Jeremy’s.
Jeremy wrote:
What often happens in churches and groups that place a heavy emphasis on biblical literacy is that the goal in the Christian life seems to be little more than the accumulation of Bible facts and theological trivia.
Can you please tell me of ONE church like this. I would LOVE to see if this phenomena exists, because never seen anything CLOSE to it.
Jeremy wrote:
When we strive to become biblically literate, there is never any end to it.
Why should there be an end to getting to know God better?
Jeremy wrote:
The call for biblical literacy is putting the cart before the horse. We’ve got the order backwards.
Sounds a lot like do good works, be a busy body for the church, and then MAYBE one day you will be worthy to know a smidgen more about God.
The assumption seems to be the only reason anybody would study the bible would be to know how to function as a christian. Why is this assumption repeated? I want to know God. I want to know His thoughts. I tried the do good works first. That doesn’t work. It certainly doesn’t lead to biblical knowledge OR knowledge of God. It’s damaging.
Hi Dave,
What good works have you tried to do?
You seem to have some past doing church work, as I can get out of your answers.
But knowing Jeremy I don’t think that is what he means.
I also think he doesn’t say that every church preaches the deep knowledge of God.
What I think I see him say is that certain believes get dished out each and every week and that is why most of these studies or preachings don’t do much good in getting to know God better.
And also not getting to know the bible better.
There is nothing Jeremy say’s against growing in the knowledge of God.
I think you assume this based on that he is speaking about the bible knowledge.
For you these 2 seem to go together.
The problem is that what you say, people who think they have the knowledge don’t do what is taught by Jesus, go out and love thy neighbor. Most of them will get to know God better I assume when to would go out and do so. They might even want to start reading there bible again to get a better understanding of the Lord God.
Only problem is, the tone of your post, in my opinion doesn’t comport with a theme i see heavily emphasized thoughout the old and new testaments. Jesus didn’t say, ‘learn the gospel message, get saved, and then that’s enough knowledge to keep you doing good works the rest of your life.’ He commanded us to ask for our daily bread. That daily bread is the word of God. It’s not simply, ‘In an ideal world if you are already serving Him, then it’s ok to study the bible. No. It’s commanded. How many of us seek knowledge of Him through His Word Daily? What happens to humans when they don’t eat? They die. What happens when we try to grow spiritually without being fueled by Jesus(the Word of God made flesh)? We end up burned out, worn out, tired, disillusioned, bitter. Those aren’t the fruits of the Spirit.
The other problem I see. This message of ‘we need you to do more.’ I know if I go to any evangelical church in the midwest, I won’t be able to go there a MONTH without hearing it. This message is ubiquitous. It’s everywhere. You can’t escape it. If you turn on religious radio stations you hear it virtually every day. It has become more than cliche, it’s vain repetition. It seems like half the time, IN THE BIBLE STUDIES THEMSELVES they don’t study the bible, rather they downplay it and shame you that you’re not doing enough.
In many ways it seems like another way for the ‘clergy’ to say ‘Just shut up and do as you’re told.’
Dave, If I understand the Greek word used in the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6 that is translated “bread”, it refers to literal bread, as in physical food made from wheat. By extension you might infer that it also refers to daily Bible reading & study, but that is not the literal meaning. This is not to say that you should not study your Bible daily, but I doubt that is what the Lord’s prayer is saying when referencing asking for our daily bread.
Most of us speak from our frame of reference, from what we have personally experienced, heard and seen. The things I’ve heard and seen in churches undoubtedly does not apply to all churches. I have not been part of any evangelical church in the Midwest for nearly fifty years, so I don’t know what one would hear there. However, on the West coast, where I live, I don’t ever remember hearing the ‘we need to do more’ message. I have heard “we need more money”, “we need more staff”, “we need more property”, “we need more Bible studies” (which as you point out are rarely really Bible studies), “this is what you should believe”, and “the Bible says” (which it rarely says what they say it says), and (implied) “it’s our way or the highway” (as in, “if you don’t entirely agree with us, then get out”).
This thing of loving our neighbors is indeed doing what Jesus said, but it is not doing it just because Jesus said it or because the Bible records it. We do it because that is who we are as a new creature in Christ. We do it not in our own strength, but through Christ who strengthens us.
Sam, I can understand why you would have that take on that passage, but consider this:
Not to use a common, coarse English metaphor, but it’s the only one I can think of at the moment. Sugar, in English refers to a real, literal sweetener, yet we use the same word ‘sugar daddy’ to refer to something else. I believe we would call that a metaphor. So it is true that sugar often refers to real, literal sugar, but this does not preclude it’s use in metaphors that are ‘not literal.’
Yes the Greek word of course means literal bread, but the greek semantics don’t preclude its use in metaphors. In fact, Jesus frequently used bread and other words as metaphors.
You wrote:
but I doubt that is what the Lord’s prayer is saying when referencing asking for our daily bread.
Jesus commonly used metaphors, and if we stop at the surface meaning, we miss the spiritual message Jesus wanted to convey. This happened often, and one example is John 6, when Jesus fed the 5,000. When they came back the next day seeking more fish sandwiches, Jesus spurned them because they failed to see the deeper, more important spiritual message.
• John 6:26-29 – Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”
•
Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” — John 6:26-29
How does one believe? Or have faith? Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
Later In this chapter Jesus also refers to himself as ‘the bread of life’ and yet He was not saying that He was composed of yeast, flour, and whatever comprises bread. It had another metaphorical meaning.
you wrote:
We do it not in our own strength, but through Christ who strengthens us.
Agreed. I’ve found that He typically does this through His Word. That’s the ‘food’ that gives me the strength and energy to accomplish His will. When the church chastises me for wanting it, or saying I want it too frequently or too much of it, I believe they are(unknowingly) cutting me(and the laity) off from the source.
Sam, your comment of 3rd Sept doesn’t have a reply tag.
Thanks for that comment, I know what you are saying.
Having just read the book of Jude, I found it interesting that Jude assumes his audience has an understanding of “the way of Cain,” “the error of Balaam,” and “the rebellion of Korah.” How many people could, today, tell you what those instances are about? As I read old books and even watch old movies, there is an assumed biblical literacy then that would never be done now. Our standards for biblical literacy are much too low as Christians.
Yes, but to riff on Paul … if I know what it means to speak of the way of Cain, the error of Balaam, or the rebellion of Korah, but have not love, I am nothing.
The entire point of my series of articles on this subject was for us Christians to make sure that love is a greater priority than Bible knowledge.
But to advocate putting down Bibles is lunacy Jeremy. It is not a matter of one or the other, and to imply that discredits Scripture.
Scott, you may want to go back and read the posts a little better. I have never suggested an “either-or” approach.
Advocating putting the Bible down is hardly making a case for a balanced Christianity. And I had already read every entry in this post.
Believe me I was taught Bible backwards forwards and sideways and it was not that helpful to right living…Jeremy is right.
Also John 5:39
Then you were taught incorrectly – sorry Justin. It is NOT a matter of one or the other.