Many pastors and church leaders are alarmed at numerous studies that frequently come out about a growing epidemic of biblical illiteracy in modern Christianity. While many people (even church goers) are generally familiar with the stories of Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses, and Jesus, few people can locate these stories in the Bible, and fewer still can accurately recall most of the details and events within the stories.
Questioning the Studies
Frankly, I’m not sure these studies are accurate, since up until the last one hundred years or so, the majority of the population of the world was unable to read or write. Since this is so, how does someone today determine the biblical knowledge of someone from the past? Could it be that these studies are actually comparing the average person in the pew today with the scholars and pastors of the past? If so, the comparison is hardly fair.
But whether the studies are accurate or not, the issue is still being framed incorrectly.
The Real Problem in Bible Study
The problem is not about how much people know or do not know about the Bible. The problem is what people do with the biblical knowledge they have, whether it is little or a lot. In other words, some people know very little about the Bible, and others know quite a lot, but in both cases, their lives look about the same. Since this is so, those who have no time for reading and learning the Bible see that the lives of the Bible scholars and pastors do not seem to be that much better, and have decided that gaining more Bible knowledge doesn’t matter.
So the real problem of today (and throughout all of history) is not getting people to know more about the Bible, but getting people to live according to the parts that they do know. And frankly, no amount of preaching, teaching, and Bible studies is going to fix this. The problem of people not living according to the Bible is not solved by filling their heads with more Bible facts and trivia.
And what is the solution?
Preach less, Not More
We must preach less, not more. Then, with the additional time that has been freed up, church leaders can actually lead the church into practicing what was preached in their lives, in the community, and around the world. We cannot think that including specific points of application at the end of our carefully crafted sermon will suffice. Leaders must actually lead the people into obedience.
People don’t want to learn more about the Bible (and they shouldn’t!) until they have seen the practical benefit in their lives and in the world of what they have already learned.
The Monk who Stopped Studying
It is like the story of a monk who was reading Scripture, when all of a sudden, he slammed the book shut, walked briskly out of the monastery with the Bible under his arm and took it to the nearest bookseller, where he sold it. On his way back to the monastery, he gave the money to a beggar on the street.
When he got back to the monastery, his fellow monks asked what he had read in Scripture which had offended him so much to cause him to sell his only Bible. “I was not offended,” he told them. “I was obeying. I read where Jesus instructed a man to sell all he had and give it to the poor. So I obeyed.”
Obey Before you Study More
I don’t believe Christians should go out and sell their Bibles. But what I do want to suggest is that before we attend another Bible study or listen to another sermon, we put into practice what we already know, and that we obey what we have already learned. I firmly believe that most Christians in the United States, despite the reports of our vast biblical illiteracy, know enough of the Bible and what it teaches that it would take at least a year to put into practice what we already know. We don’t need more sermons and studies. We need to put into practice what we already know.
In fact, it may actually be that the biblical illiteracy reported in the studies and statistics—if true—is actually a result of God at work in our lives, rather than an indication of His absence. One clear scriptural principle is that God does not teach us more until we have learned to obey what we already know, and if we do not put into practice what we know, even what we know will be taken from us (see Luke 8:17-18). So it may be that the correction for widespread biblical illiteracy today is not more teaching, but more doing.
So what can a pastor do? How can we teach the Scriptures so that people not only learn what they say, but also do what is taught? The answer is not to teach more sermons, or to provide better and more concrete application. If we put everything that has been taught so far in the chapter, the solution seems to be relatively clear.
Hey Jeremy,
I always find it interesting to get your blog feed even though I don’t always agree with you. Here I guess I don’t quite agree with you. To be honest, I get so beaten down, depressed and saddened by the sin in this world and in my own life that I *need* regular teaching. Like the Hebrews who were told to not forsake their regular assembling so that they could encourage each other in the light of the coming of the Lord, I too find that I need the encouragement of the Scriptures from other believers. When I feel so burdened with my own failures I cling to the truth that I have been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, that nothing can separate me from the love of Christ, that in Christ I stand complete with a righteous not from me. There are many other points of doctrine that I are important for our lives also. There is a way of knowing these things and treating them as mere debating points or bits of information to add to our theological arsenal but Jeremy, I need these truths so so much in my daily life.
And while I see how true your point is that we should teach less and obey more… I need to be shown how to obey more. It’s not enough just to say “obey more” because there are so many ways of doing that that will just drag me into the gutter of despair (cf. Romans 7).
The Bible, as a means of grace, is vital for my life. I need it regularly applied to me. I need to hear about the God who speaks in its pages. I need to hear his voice and thereby make God’s priorities my own. Without the regular teaching of God’s word I would be weak spiritually. I don’t think that’s entirely my fault. Western rugged individualism has a tendency of assume that we can go it alone and forge our own spiritual path. But I need the community of believers who can regularly minister the word of God to me and I to them for our mutual encouragement.
Then, as the word of God delights me and I delight in the God who redeemed me, then I can take this God to the world and tell them how majestic and wonderful he is. And with that telling of God’s greatness I must live out God’s character – his justice, his love, his goodness… And so our telling of the gospel invades every aspect of people’s lives as we show them God through our words and deeds.
I hope I haven’t missed your point and I hope you see mine somehow. It’s just a plea from an ordinary believer who longs for the word of God – not for mere head knowledge (I’ve been there, done that) – but for the sustenance it brings and for the way it can reveal the God who can change me into the image of Jesus Christ and who can make that image permeate every facet of my being so that the gospel transforms how I live my life.
The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you,
Andrew
Andrew,
Thank you for your thoughtful comment.
I actually agree with you completely. Pastors and teachers should never leave it up to the people in the pew to figure out how to apply and follow the text on their own. And while verbal instruction on how to apply the text is a move in the right direction, I am going to suggest in my blog post today that what we really need is leading by example in applying the text. We need the pastor to say, “Ok. Today we learned ABC. Next Sunday, instead of another sermons where we will learn XYZ, we are going to go out and put into practice ABC. Then, after that, we will turn to learn about XYZ.”
I think that this putting into practice what we have learned would be of great encouragement to all of us, more than just gathering and teaching all by itself.
Very true Jeremy. Apologies for misunderstanding what you were saying 🙂
Yep, I agree again! Like Andrew said, we need regular teaching, spiritual feeding. But I differ in the way I believe the Bible says this should be done. One of the ways to live out the teachings of the Bible is to do as it says in I Cor. 14:26 “Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.” This and other similar references do NOT encourage one person to do all the study and teaching. Ministering to each other this way truly causes growth. I’m often amazed at the level of knowledge many of our brothers and sisters in Christ have of the Bible when I’m priviledged to be in the types of gatherings that allow us to obey this particular teaching. And it is the Holy Spirit that will put the cap on the false teachings, and do it in love, if we let Him work through us together.
Andrew, sorry if I misunderstood. I just reread your comment, and I may not differ in my opinion. We very well may be speaking the same thing here.
Esther and Andrew,
I do think we are kind of all saying the same thing. Teaching and understanding the Bible is vitally important, but it is not the end. It is to move us on toward love and good deeds, both toward each other, and toward a hurting and dying world.
I certainly wouldn’t disagree with you Esther. You make a wonderful point that is missed by so many people!
I agree – Let’s spend our time living it.
Amazingly, the people I know who spend the most time in “Bible studies” and listening to sermons seem to know the least about the Bible. They seem to know lots about certain “interpretations”, but the plain truth of the Bible eludes them. Only a few people are “called” to do what Jesus plainly says to do, but every “Christian” must study the Bible more (which means more religious and political indoctrination).
One can read hundreds of books and theories on the proper ways to paint houses, but until one does it, it’s all theory. As a former housepainter, I know that getting out there and doing it is the best way to learn, and the best way to end up with painted houses.
Great analogy about house painting!
Someone once told me that you can look at pictures of cat claws, and read about cat claws, but you will never really understand cat claws until you grab a cat by the tail.
To paraphrase Norm Crosby, “I resemble that cartoon.” That being said, I think part of the problem has to do with the difference between the “do this” of the Law and the “Jesus did it all” of the Gospel. If we studied the Bible to know more about Jesus rather than to (hypocritically) justify ourselves … perhaps we would be changed. There is a experiential type of knowing which I think isn’t far from what we call “knowing in the biblical sense.” Surprisingly, we all seem to be in agreement.
And this is eternal life: [it means] to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand) You, the only true and real God, and [likewise] to know Him, Jesus [as the] Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah), Whom You have sent. ~ John 17:3 (AMP)
Yes, I think I’ve done that with Scripture references before….