I spoke on 1 Peter 3:15 this week at Sanlando Church (“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect….”). I thought it a timely study in light of the Pew Forum announcing recently that atheists and agnostics have a better understanding of Christianity than do evangelical Christians. You can read their report here.
At first I thought this to be simply more trashing of Christians, but then I thought of some Christians I know, and I remembered some conversations I’ve had with people who present themselves to be atheists or agnostics, and I winced. I winced because I was confronted by the realization that this report is too true.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think every evangelical Christian is intellectually deficient about their faith anymore than I think every non-believer has an understanding of Christianity. There are many Christ-followers who are involved in solid Bible study. It is encouraging to see so many young leaders filling conferences where in-depth biblical teaching is being offered. But that is not the norm. Similarly, some atheists and agnostics are truth seekers who have investigated faith systems and turned away, and others have opted out because, quite frankly, it takes too much faith and work to be religious.
But here’s the problem: far too many Christians do not have a basic understanding of what they believe and why. It may not be a problem that they do not know that Martin Luther was a leader in the Protestant Reformation (one of the questions Pew asked), but it is a problem when Christians cannot name even one of the apostles or tell you the first or last book of the Bible.
Something must be done!
It begins with pastoral leadership. As a preaching minister for forty years, let me say to my peers: we must get serious about teaching people how to understand and apply the Bible for themselves! It is not as simple as preaching expository sermons. (One of the glaring results in the Pew study is that evangelicals scored lower than Mormons and Jews in their knowledge of Christian beliefs and history. The reason that finding is so amazing to me is because we evangelicals pride ourselves on being people of the Book!) We must challenge our people to not only listen, but to learn!
It is not only a problem of leadership, however. Individual Christians are not “studying to show themselves approved unto God.” We spend time doing everything else, but when it comes time to study God’s Word, we always have an excuse.
The Apostle Peter said, be ready with the explanations, not the excuses.
