As many reading probably know, I used to be firmly entrenched in third wave, word/faith, charismatic circles.  During that time, there was most certainly hunger and an earnest desire to be on one accord with what God was doing, with how I believed that the Spirit was moving.  I did study the Bible, well actually read the Bible, ferociously and was determined to not miss God.  I therefore, followed a number of popular teachers (names unmentioned) that had books, megachurches, TV spots, radio programs and conferences to which many would flock.    If a book was written by one of these spiritual superstars, I wanted to get it.   I faithfully followed the Elijah List, a consortium of today’s “prophetic” voice so I could stay on top of things.

But in gravitating towards popular name brands (because after all, with those kinds of crowds, how can the teaching be off in any way), it does seem like I missed something vitally important…discernment.   Don’t get me wrong, I would listen carefully and yes, there were times that things were said, including times in my own church, that I would question or not necessarily agree with.  But overall, I would dismiss these fleeting moments of doubt to embrace the larger and grander prize of being in the know, or so I thought.   But the ability to really dig in and compare what I was listening to with what Scripture was really communicating was lost on me until about 3 years ago.   That is when I became acquainted with a dear brother in Christ who would eventually become of my best friends and he challenged me on how I was reading Scripture.  This would usually occur after I would recite whatever latest musings I had grabbed hold of from one of these popular teachers.  It was at this time that I really began to study the Scriptures, contextually, comparatively, exegetically and expositionally.  Needless to say, since that time some of the positions that I dogmatically would espouse as truth, began to unravel under the microscope of Scriptural examination.

Since that time, I have noticed an alarming trend in my blogging travels, conversations with other Christians and general observations regarding church happenings.  People in general want something more, they know about Christ and maybe even profess Him as Lord.  They want to know God and to experience Him in their lives.  They are taught to read the Bible and do as it says.  There are many popular voices for them to listen to help them in their Christian journey.  Go into any bookstore and there will be a plethora of resources to utilize.  Naturally, I think the ones produced by the name brand will get the bill.  But I wonder how much these are carefully considered as being sufficiently accurate compared to what Scripture is saying or are the sermons, resources and teachings automatically received simply because it rings of Christian truth?

I could be wrong, but I do believe there is a concerning lack of discernment in the body of Christ today.  It is not obstinance, although with some that may be the case.  It is not ignorance, because I think there is just way to much information out there.  No, I think the problem is what I will call a theology of indifference. It is simply taking at face value a teacher or teaching as solidly Christian simply because they may teach about Christ, use the Bible and may even have large crowds and popular products and settling for a superficial knowledge of what constitutes our Christian faith.

I would not automatically dismiss folks as being too lazy to care.  But I do think there might be many factors contributing to this trend and here are  some I am considering:

Pastoral challenges: I do not envy the job of any pastor.  He has a responsibility before God to instruct the flock about Christianity and what that should mean for them and to care for the needs of the flock.  That is a tough balancing act, I think.  People are hurt and come with needs.   They want solutions to their problems, which are very real and imminent.  Biblical instruction, while very much the charge of any pastor, may not appear to be the instant remedy to that hurting member of the body.  How to meet those needs without forsaking the charge of solid Christian education?

And I do believe that the state of discernment rises and falls on the headship of the church.  To the degree that the leadership is serious about fostering discernment through solid Biblical education is to the degree that that will most likely filter down to the members.  I think there is nothing more grevious, and telling, of a church member who talks more about what their pastor said than what the Bible said.

I think too, there is always the temptation to confuse leadership with agenda promotion.  The pastor leads the congregation through serving them, not ruling over them.  In the hands of untrained, unstable, and maybe self-serving pastors, who do not themselves have a tight grip on what the Scripture really teaches about the purpose of their job, the way of pastoral care could easily produce spiritually anemic and Biblically illiterate saints who whole-heartedly support his vision that may be confused with Biblical doctrine.

Church challenges: The buildings and organizations we call churches, are in the business of being the church to the body.  There are clearly some basics outlined in Scripture, but there is a lot of leeway to conduct corporate gatherings and produce programs that will fulfill the Scriptural mandate of what the church is supposed to be.  The buildings called churches exist to foster a community of believers to grow up together in Christ.  But similar to the pastoral challenge, the corporate structure of the church could bend so far in accommodating needs that critical Christian education is forsaken as a necessary component of discipleship in response to the demands of the congregation for help with concerns and focus programs around those needs.  Please hear me, I am not saying these programs are not needed but it is about balance.

Status of Christian Education: for the first 2 reasons stated above, this is I think is in a dismal state.  Again, members of congregations will rise to the occasion of learning to the extent that it is being promoted.  A fish rots from the head, as one professional collegue told me years ago.  This too, is a challenge.  How to teach what every disciple should know in a way that engages them and adequately equips them not only for service but to be able to separate the real from the fake.  And if congregations become less concerned about critically learning about their faith, that could seep into the corporate mindset of how programs and education are designed.

My dad was telling me that at his church in Southern CA, which is an Evangelical Free church, that the Adult Bible Fellowship program was abandoned because the congregation was more interested in fellowshipping than sitting in a classroom learning for 45 minutes.  To be sure, fellowship and breaking bread together is a necessary component of doing life together.  But it cannot take the place of Christian education.  And this is the concern, that as desires of congregations are catered to and as churches are faced with dwindling numbers in Adult Bible Fellowship classes, there is a lessening or straight abandonment of teaching Christians about their faith so they will not buy hook, line and sinker anything that comes down the pike.

Disruption of Unity: I have heard this argument many times.   Because of the unity that we are to have as believers, pointing out doctrinal differences goes against the grain of the unity espoused in Scripture.   Ephesians 4 is usually the white horse that the unity trump card rests on.  Besides, didn’t Jesus say that the world will spot disciples by the love that we have for one another? It does seem likely to be dubbed a heresy hunter if you comment about teaching that you believe may not be consistent with a plain reading of Scripture.

I do believe in the unity of the body.  But the unity spoken about in Ephesians is solidified on the basis of who Christ is, what He accomplished and who we are in relation to Him.  It is not a license to follow blindly any type of teaching that may mention Christ but distorts His character, work or purpose.  But again, it is important to understand what the Christian business is all about in order to even make that assessment in the first place.

It is serious business to be a Christ follower and one that we should not take lightly, casually or apathetically.  It is not enough to learn a verse a day to keep the devil away or even to get so entrenched with a particular Christian tradition that we abandoned the charge of discipleship, to grow in grace and the true knowledge of Jesus Christ.  And we don’t know without a critical examination of our faith to do as the Bereans did in Acts 17:11 to examine the Scripture and see if these things are so.

This shows we care about our faith, about God, about the great salvation that has been given to us, that we are not willing to buy in to any product of Christianity without analyzing it against Scripture and sound doctrine.  It shows we care that we are willing to do as Jude commends to earnestly contend for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.   There is nothing wrong at all with pointing out distortions but there is everything wrong with not knowing what they are in the first place.

Send post as PDF to PDF | PDF Creator | PDF Converter

The Credo House of Theology is well on the way. Get the latest updates here.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Share this Post[?]