A Famine of Biblical Knowledge

How many of us have been "doing" church since we were little kids?  How many sermons have we listened to?  How many times have we taken communion?  How many of us could explain to someone else even the basic story of the Bible...Old Testament and New?

Answer?

Very, very few.

Most Christians know enough about the Bible to be dangerous.

The Bible in America is a massive industry ($2.5 billion) yet it is the best seller few read and fewer understand.

The Bible has become a moving target. One can strip it down, twist it, misread it, add to it, supplement it, and even overrule it, and, unfortunately, 95 percent of the congregation will not realize it.

Why? Because Americans no longer know the Bible. The evidence is overpowering that contemporary Christianity is Bible-ish, at best, and at worst, in some cases, Bible-less.

The American Bible Society releases an annual State of the Bible report and their research is persuasive in understanding the declining influence of the Bible in America.

Everyone has an opinion about the Bible. Politicians attempt to use the Bible, Grammy-award winners quote it and Hollywood has portrayed it on the big screen.

Yet one problem remains: most are oblivious to the Bible s basic content, meaning, and message.

Across the pond, the results are even more dramatic: one-third of British parents thought Harry Potter was a thematic plotline derived from the Bible.

The Bible is not held in the esteem it once was. Over the last 150 years, America has drifted from its Biblical focus. In an election season, it is remarkable to recall that, though he was not a member of any church, the Bible was valued as an authority in America so much so that Abraham Lincoln quoted from it four strategic times in his second inaugural address on March 4, 1865. President Lincoln used words ascribed to Jesus in Matthew 18:7 and using the Bible --- pronounced God s judgment on our nation for her moral bankruptcy of slavery.

The unwillingness of many Americans to dig deeper into the Scriptures is not related to a lack of options. The Gideons give away a Bible every second. One publisher sells more than sixty different editions of the Bible.

Clearly, the challenge of biblical illiteracy in America is not because of a shortage of Bibles, but rather knowledge and appreciation of the Bible s message.

Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=140#Q35uEw8rIXjcuVwp.99

Jesus asks us what good salt is if it loses its saltiness?  In other words, what good are Christians who don't know their Bibles any better than non-believers?

How can we stand against the atheists and scoffers attacks when they ridicule us for being against homosexuality but have no problem wearing clothes woven of different fabrics?

How can we stand against false teachers when we have no idea how to measure their words against scripture?

How can we respond to people who say, "I don't care for the God of the Old Testament...so if I'm going to read from the Bible I only use the New Testament."

It's a sad state of affairs people....so let's make sure we are part of the solution and not part of the problem!  If you aren't reading the Word of God regularly and studying it with others to sharpen your knowledge.....we are probably going backward.

Amos 8:11 
“The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.