"BIBLICAL ILLITERACY: Why CHRISTIANS Do Not READ The BIBLE!"

          "But you have carefully followed my doctrine , manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra - what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom (the Holy Spirit) you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Tim 3:10-17)


Wow! That is enough to eat off of for the next three years! Paul wrote these words of fire to his disciple Timothy from a Roman prison (actually, house arrest) right before his impending acquittal. Not being sure if his protege was going to make it to his side after being summoned by the aged Apostle, Paul penned this epistle as a sort of Last Words that would help to galvanize the fragmented early church and counteract the false teachings of the opponents of the gospels in Ephesus, Macedonia ans Colosse.

Thank God for His written Word! Although it has been bastardized and corrupted by man, we still have NO POWER over the TRUTH exuding from the life and breath of the Holy Spirit! The Lord God has given us doctrine to help us establish a solid foundation to our belief system, to define and understand why we believe what we believe and then, to be able to teach the truth to others who have a heart for God and His Word.

• 87% of Americans define themselves as Christians.
• More than 50% of Americans think the Bible has little influence over our nation's moral decay.
• 88% of Americans own a Bible.
• 80% of Americans think that the Bible is sacred.
• 61% of Americans wished they read the Bible more often.
• 57% of youth between the ages of 18-28 say they read the Bible less than 3 times per year!
• The average American household has 4.4 bibles.
• Most Americans cannot name more than 2 or 3 disciples.
• 60% of Americans cannot name 5 of the 10 commandments.
• Most Americans think that Sodom and Gomorrah were a married couple.
• The majority of Christians think that Joan of Arc was Noah's wife.
• More than 50 % believe The Sermon on the Mount was preached by Billy Graham. 

                                                                              Source: The Barna Group Poll (2009, 2012)

In my opinion, many churches marginalize biblical knowledge because they are not focused on teaching the TRUTH. Many pastors are well aware that their congregations are functionally illiterate and that they can basically teach them anything with little or no resistance.  Too many men are silent in the wake of pervasive scandals led by church leaders and often turn a blind eye to these nefarious acts so that they can maintain their "position" and social standing within the ministry. 

The modern day church is a "safe haven" for biblical functional illiterates. No reading or instruction is required for membership. The above mentioned list of facts helps to validate that the majority of Christians are too lazy and self absorbed to read the Word and actively pursue a relationship with God.

Many Christians resist the teaching of the hard core gospel and the TRUTH that comes along with it. The TRUTH elicits ACCOUNTABILITY from the Believer and eliminates the "I didn't know" excuse. The "small group" movements in many churches are merely social fellowships which promote fun activities for the group but provides little, if any, rigorous bible training and discourse to develop the spiritual lives of its members.

Many youth and music ministries have become hunting grounds for sexual predators and pedophiles within the church. Too many Christians ignore the obvious transgressions against our kids and continually allows these perverts to prey on the innocents. But as long as they can preach good, sing good and keep us entertained, it will be business as usual. Again, the focus is on fun and very little on bible training. 

Our last bastion of faith for a resurgence in solid bible based teaching rests on the shoulders of the parents of our youth. In particular, Christian parents (specifically, the FATHERS and HUSBANDS) have to take the lead in teaching the Word to their families and serving in the marketplace as an example to our children, neighbors and those living in darkness.

Bible engagement = Bible empowerment! The denial of TRUTH will result in vulnerability for the spiritually immature Christian and lead to manipulation, corruption, deception and, ultimately, DEATH...

Believers, READ YOUR "WORD" AND READ IT SLOWLY! (John 6:63-64).