Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Statement Of Faith

Introduction Part 2

Introduction: The Greatest Story Never Read    Recovering biblical literacy in the church. by Gary M. Burge

     'Jay Leno knew he had the perfect comedy routine. Roving through the audience of his late-night talk show, Leno asked people how much they knew about the Bible. "Name one of the Ten Commandments," he asked. A hand went up: "God helps those who help themselves?" Leno went on: "Name one of the apostles." No answer. But when he asked his audience to name the four Beatles, the names "George, Paul, John, and Ringo" flew from the crowd.

     Obviously, we live in a postbiblical era where general knowledge of the Bible cannot be assumed. As a book, the Bible has been removed from the reading lists of students. We may lament the neglect of the Bible in popular culture and secular education, but we can understand it. But what about the church? What about the evangelical church? If it is true that biblical illiteracy is commonplace in secular culture at large, there is ample evidence that points to similar trends in our churches.

     For the last four years, the Bible and theology department at Wheaton College in Illinois has studied the biblical and theological literacy of incoming freshmen. These students are intellectually ambitious and spiritually passionate. They represent almost every Protestant denomination and every state in the country. Most come from strong evangelical churches and possess a long history of personal devotion and Christian involvement (regular church attendance, youth groups, camps, missions, etc.). They use the Bible regularly--but curiously, few genuinely know its stories.

     The Bible has become a springboard for personal piety and meditation, not a book to be read. These students very likely know that David killed Goliath, but they don't know why he did it or that Goliath was a Philistine or who the Philistines were.

     When asked to complete a test in which a series of biblical events must be placed in order, our students returned surprising results. One-third of the freshmen could not put the following in order: Abraham, the Old Testament prophets, the death of Christ, and Pentecost. Half could not sequence: Moses in Egypt, Isaac's birth, Saul's death, and Judah's exile. One-third could not identify Matthew as an apostle from a list of New Testament names. When asked to locate the biblical book supplying a given story, one-third could not find Paul's travels in Acts, half did not know that the Christmas story was in Matthew or that the Passover story was in Exodus.

     After reflecting on these test returns, I was interested to take my inquiry in a different direction. Surveying high-school seniors in youth groups found in strong evangelical churches would supply another confirmation of my suspicions.

     These students are the "pride" of our Sunday-school curricula. They have seen our programs since elementary school; they have watched VeggieTales repeatedly; sermons and Bible studies have been the staple of life. Youth leaders in a number of churches were eager to employ a short, 25-question objective test I wrote to study their students' Bible knowledge.

    On my simple 25-question test, high-school youth groups averaged 50–55 percent correct. When these students were pooled, average responses to particular questions gave a more dramatic picture. Fully 80 percent could not place Moses, Adam, David, Solomon, Abraham in chronological order. Only 15 percent could place in order the major events of Jesus' and Paul's lives. Only 20 percent knew to look in Acts to read the story of Paul's travels. And while 60 percent could locate the Exodus story in the Old Testament, only 33 percent could find the Sermon on the Mount in the New Testament, and 80 percent did not know how to find the Lord's Prayer.

     Is it any wonder then that our young people and adults do not know the stories of the Bible? That they cannot reason theologically? No one is teaching them. No one is modeling it for them. No one is announcing that the biblical story is The Story that defines our identity and life in the church.'

EXP: Pretty amazing, isn't it? Hard to believe, isn't it? But still altogether true and that is to our shame as the Church of Jesus Christ. We are sending malnourished young adults in to the world to be the next generation of the church of God.

 What is that saying about the effect the church will have on the world in the future?
 What is that saying about our generation who is sending them out w/o a proper feeding in God's Word?
 What is that saying about  who we think God is?

 One of God's names is El Shaddai. The word El is translated as God as in Elohim. Shaddai is translated 'almighty' and describes power but not of violence  but of all-bountifulness,  fruitfulness.

ILL: A baby was laid down near some cliff by its mother. While she was busy with her herd of goats, the baby, crawled to the edge of the  cliff. The mother, afraid to take a step, lest the child should move further and fall off the cliff, only uncovered her breast, and so drew back  the infant to her.

 The Hebrew word 'Shaddai' can literally be translated 'breasted' from the Hebrew root 'Shad' which means 'the breast' or  more precisely 'a woman's breast'.

 Think about it. This is one of the figures God Himself has chosen to express to us the nature of His being.

 It tells us that El Shaddai, is strong enough to help and sensitive enough to care, He hears our cries as the mother hears and understands the cries of her baby.  Therefore He can quiet the restless and strengthen the weak. He can attract as the breast attracts when we are in peril of falling from Him.

 You may be wondering where I am going with all this. You see, both God and His Word are truth. They both have the same characteristics as revealed in His name El Shaddai. Both are of one nature.  Therefore, knowing God and understanding the truths found in God's Word  can quiet your restless heart and mind when you are tempted to go astray.

 It can attract you back to truth and sound doctrine when you are tempted to believe something false.
 And it will feed you, nourish and strengthen you so that you will grow and mature in the strength of God's Word.
 Understanding the truths of God's Word will keep you from being spiritually malnourished.
 Teaching sound doctrine will keep us from sending our spiritually malnourished young adults into the world.

TRANS: This morning we will examine 1 of 4 reasons why we must study and understand sound doctrine.

 A. Nourishment/Maturity/Growth
 1. 1 Timothy 4:6-7 In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness'

    DO: Discipline yourself and follow sound doctrine
             a. Discipline yourself:
                1. By teaching others to remember the truths of God's Word.
                2. By following faithfully what you have been taught  concerning God's Word.

The result:

1. You will be constantly nourished, that means you will be built up, strengthened, brought to maturity in Christ.

2. You will be a good servant of Jesus Christ.
 Following faithfully the sound doctrine we have been taught is not easy..is it? Especially when it cramps our style.

 The word translated 'discipline' is the Greek word for exercise and we get our word gymnastic from it. It means to train physically. And that isn't easy. Are you disciplined in your study of God's Word and in your following of sound doctrine? Do you come to church each Sunday or to other bible study activities, ready to do the work necessary to understand the truths of God's Word? If you do the result will be nourishment, and maturing in your faith.

 But, just a spiritual food brings nourishment and growth, worldly food brings  malnutrition and sickness.

    DO NOT: Have anything to do with worldly fables.

 These were the stories that women would tell to children to make them feel good and even to go to go to sleep. They were bedtime stories.

 It is no different than the false doctrines taught today by many both inside and outside the church. They are intended to make us feel good, and to lull us to sleep so that we can no longer recognize and act upon the truth of God's Word . DO NOT listen to them, have nothing to do with them or their lies.

 We will talk more about false teaching next week.

1 Tim. 4:6-7 tells us
DO: Discipline yourself and follow sound doctrine and  you will be constantly nourished.
DO NOT: Have anything to do with worldly fables.

2. 1 Cor. 13:11 'When I was a child, I used to speak as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.'

    DO NOT: Hold on to childish things
         Paul says sure the stories you were told as a child were fun. Sure, ignorance was bliss.  But you are no longer a child. Therefore, get rid of childish things   Instead...

    DO: Be mature. Take responsibility for that which God has given to you. And He has given you His Holy Word and you are responsible for the whole counsel of God. Studying, and holding fast to the truth of God's Word will bring maturity.

1 Cor. 13:11 tells us
    DO NOT: Hold on to childish things
    DO: Be mature

 In 1 Cor. 14:20 Paul gets a bit more specific.
3. 1 Cor. 14:20  'Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be babes, but in your thinking be mature.'

    DO: Be mature in thinking
         Remember I said last week that before we can express passion about the things of God from our heart, it must first be present and understood in our mind?   Paul is stating that we should be mature in our thinking. We should have wisdom and knowledge that are ripe and mature.

    DO NOT: be childish in your thinking
        Children are attracted to what is shiny, and sparkly. They are spellbound by outward show, w/o ever inquiring about the true nature of things. They prefer noise and show to worth and substance.

 Paul is quietly rebuking the Corinthians for their lack of spiritual substance.  Just think what he would do if he were alive today and saw the young people from our churches that we are sending to college w/o a solid understanding of sound biblical doctrine?

1 Cor. 14:20
    DO: Be mature in thinking
    DO NOT: be childish in your thinking

      4. Jude 20a 'But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith'
 Here Paul only tells us what to do.

    DO: Build yourself up in the knowledge of God's Word

 In the NT 'the faith' is the body of truth and practice from the Apostles. It is most holy because it was given to them by the Holy Spirit' (Acts 4:27,30)

 'Building ourselves up' means not being satisfied with where we are or what we know. It means to build upon, to continually make further progress. There is no retirement from learning and studying God's Word. Studying doctrine is for all ages and for all levels of spiritual maturity.

 How do we build ourselves up, mature, grow in 'the faith'?
 With disciplined study of Sound Doctrine
 With disciplined following of  Sound Doctrine.
 With disciplined teaching of Sound Doctrine.

Conclusion     'The Reformation was at the very least a reminder of what is the ultimate source of authority in Christian thought and life. Roland Bainton describes the common view: "The reformers dethroned the Pope and enthroned the Bible". The Scriptures were a divine resource, Luther urged, a guide to truth unavailable anywhere else. To disregard this resource--to neglect the Bible--is to remove the chief authority on which our faith is built. We are left vulnerable, unable to check the teachings of those who invite us to follow, incapable of charting a true course past siren voices calling from treacherous islands such as TV programs, popular books, and enchanting prophecies displayed on colorful Web sites.
      I am amazed at the number of times mature Christians have come to me bearing ideas discovered in some spiritual flea market, ideas about the Spirit or prayer or eschatology or prosperity that flatly contradict the plain teaching of the Bible.
 But the importance of this virtue lies deeper still. To be a people "of the Book" is to be a people that knows how to use the Bible as a divine gift. In a world that seems intent on rejecting every source of authority, it is a precious thing to discover and acknowledge--to embrace with one's whole heart--the divine book that can comfort and guide. Christians who have never had this gift, who possess a Bible and don't read it, who know a few stories without being immersed in its world, who possess no sense of the potency of special revelation for them, live with a remarkable impoverishment. Yes they can be Christians, but they are not rich Christians who drink from deep and precious wells.'

 And according to God's Word, they are malnourished, lacking maturity, and spiritual growth.
 My charge and challenge to you this morning...........DO NOT be like them.