Knowledge of the gospel

 I recently had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine that eventually began addressing the spiritual understanding of many who call themselves Christians. He and I both shared a concern that many Christians lack an even basic knowledge of God, the Gospel and basic doctrines of the faith. We were not questioning their love of God or their salvation experience. We were concerned that their understanding of Christian teaching seemed to be shallow. I agreed it would be very difficult for many Christians to explain to someone else what they believed which is why a majority of believers are reluctant to share their faith with others.

Why is there such a lack of awareness of basic Christian doctrine? Certainly, there is no shortage of material available to explain biblical teaching. Churches continue to dot the landscape. Although many of them have abandoned the faith, there are still many who remain faithful to preach and teach the truth. So, what's the excuse?

As noted above, some churches have abandoned the teachings of Scripture and now teach the philosophies of men. They offer little more helpful suggestions about life. Other churches, even holding to sound doctrinal beliefs, fail to teach those beliefs to their congregations. These churches seek pastors who will tickle their ears (2 Tim. 4: 1-4) with encouraging messages. These churches continue to provide milk and not meat to the congregations resulting in them remaining babes in Christ (1 Cor. 3: 1-3).

However, even in those churches that do provide sound doctrinal teaching, the typical church member often isn't present to hear it. According to the Pew Research Center, only 36% of adult Christians attend church services once a week or more while another 33% attend once or twice a month. A typical sermon may last 30-45 minutes with many pastors preaching shorter messages than that. Many churches see fewer and fewer adults in their Sunday school classes. How does one expect to learn sound biblical doctrine when they are exposed to it for 30 minutes a month?

In some parts of the world it is illegal to own a Bible, and being found with one can lead to one's death and the death of his or her family. Forget about owning Bible commentaries or other books to help one learn more about God and Christian teaching. Yet, in this country many homes have multiple copies of the Bible which are never read. We have access to tens of thousands of resources to help us understand our faith better which also gone unread by the majority of believers. 

People leave churches with the excuse that "the pastor isn't feeding us." That may be the case, but it also may be the case that they never show up when it's feeding time. And, how about feeding yourself? Adults should not have to depend on someone else to feed them.

Receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is only the first step in our walk with God. The next step is becoming a disciple of God, and when we can only grow in our discipleship when we begin to grow in our knowledge of Him, His Word and His will for our lives.