This is what I have been harping about on FR for awhile now. How can someone grow up going to church and not know anything about the bible?
There must be another answer..... I believe (after studying scripture) you can have head knowledge of scripture but until God takes your blinders off and you actually “get it” and you have a heart change it just doesn’t make a bit of difference. Scripture confirms this in verse 1 Corintians 2:14. (there are others as well).
In the book of James, that is why God tells us to be not only hearers of the word but doers. To look intently into the law (the written word of God) so we can be blessed. One can not become a doer unless one truly knows “what” to do for the Lord as an act of worship not duty.
There are always the comments that people don’t know anything about the bible because the churches are more into entertaining nowadays. I couldn’t disagree more! There are churches who “entertain”, but that is not the true issue. The issue is whether or not they teach what the bible says. If they give relevance to the scripture for the “hearers” and teach what God says, then it doesn’t matter the surroundings. Paul used relevance in his day. The preachers have a great responsibility to God to be accurate in his teachings and there is only way to weigh the truth and that is with reading the scripture yourselves and finding out if what they say can be held up in scripture.
Take a look at the variety of ways we “receive” our information today and I gaurantee you it is different from when our parents grew up. Do you want to put God in the “traditional” box. Don’t do that! God works in all types of churches THAT TEACH THE BIBLE. That is the key.
God will reach many using all different methods. But remember we are in a fallen world, so along with that, satan has utilized all these ways to glorify himself as well. It has never been easier for him to infiltrate the airwaves with false teachers (Joel Osteen, Benny Hinn, etc), he has used the information highway to spout falsehoods about Christ. He will use all these methods to preach his gospel, he seeks to destroy us, that is his mission. He wants us to think it is because the churches have lost tradition..but that simply is not the case! I just don’t buy it! We just see more false teachers in the media than we do the ones who are truly teaching about Jesus. It doesn’t mean God isn’t working.
I love to ask the question, how many know about the enemy of God? Who? What? When? Why? The bible teaches this as well, but you don’t hear much about that from the false teachers. They want you think that life is all honky dory if you just believe hard enough. Hogwash!
I am a living example of this. I was raised in a Bible believing church, daddy was a deacon, there every time the doors open...yada, yada, yada. And yet, I 'didn't get it'. It wasn't until the Holy Spirit took the blinders off did I really see God.
Don't get me wrong. I'm very fortunate now to have had that strong Bible based background.
We MUST understand and teach the Bible. What it says, not what we want it to say. There are so many 'teachers' on TV who teach us to have faith in faith and not in Jesus Christ. I don't have a problem with a church or a preacher "entertaining" me. He has to first get my attention. But then, I WANT THE BIBLE PREACHED!!!