Can you defend what you believe?

One of the major reasons many people give for not sharing their Christian faith is that they fear people will ask questions they cannot answer. The truth is that many Christians cannot defend their faith against those with questions or those who ridicule religion and Christianity in particular. For years Christians have been content to attend worship services, sit quietly in their pews, sing a few songs, listen to people pray and hear a sermon meant to make them feel good. Relatively few have spent time studying the Scriptures for themselves and growing in their knowledge of what Christianity teaches. Many cannot adequately explain what they believe and even fewer can explain why they believe it.

In no other area of our lives are we so unconcerned about things we are connected to. If one is a salesperson that individual wants to learn everything possible about the items he or she is selling. These people also want to know as much as possible about the competition and their products. If one owns a company the same thing is true. As couples start their families they want to learn as much as possible about raising children. Even a new pet owner is likely to study about their pets, how to train them and the best ways of caring for them. It's only when we come to our faith and God we seem to not think it is important to learn as much as possible about our faith.

Every Christian should be a student of the Bible. This doesn't mean that every Christian needs to enroll in seminary, but it does mean that each of us have a responsibility to be growing in our faith. Sunday school, small group Bible study, online courses and independent study are just some of the ways this can happen. Unfortunately, we know that in many churches the Sunday school attendance is about one-half of the worship attendance, or less. Many churches do not offer small groups, and if people are not making use of Sunday school classes it's likely they are not doing online or independent studies either.

As a result, many people are not growing in their faith. They do not possess a Christian worldview, Their thinking and reasoning are secular in nature which not only impacts their lives but also the decisions made in the church. Many churches are held hostage by spiritually immature members.

Unfortunately, few churches address this problem. The old adage is true: You get what you expect. Few churches expect their new members to grow in the faith. We have accepted the argument that people are busy and do not have time to attend Bible studies and worship services, and if they can only attend one we want them in the worship service because that is the one we count.

It would be far better to let people know that becoming a Christian means growing as a disciple of Jesus Christ, and our church expects each member to pursue such growth. Classes should regularly be offered on evangelism, apologetics, and doctrines of the faith, and we should encourage people to attend these classes. Those who refuse should not be selected for leadership positions in the church. It's time to raise the bar on what is expected of a Christian. Jesus certainly has high expectations for those who would follow Him; the church should not lower those expectations.