(OPINION) In a poll by the Barna Group, half of those who described themselves as Christians didn’t believe that Satan exists, and one-third were confident that Jesus sinned while He was on Earth.
It seems to me that in the church today, there’s a rising biblical illiteracy among professed followers of Jesus. Our biblical IQ, if you will, never has been lower.
As George Barna put it, “Growing numbers of people now serve as their own theologian-in-residence.”
What we believe about God and what He says about Himself is the most important thing we could focus on and think about.
In fact, what we think about God has everything to do with how we live our lives.
Our views of God will determine how we react to what comes our way in life.
Yet, we don’t have to check our brains at the door when we choose to be followers of Jesus Christ, because Christianity is a reasonable faith. It is a logical faith.
God says, “Come now, and let us reason together,” (Isaiah 1:18). A modern version of this verse says, “Come. Sit down. Let’s argue this out.”
We need to think and act biblically, not emotionally. Far too many people today emote when it comes to God. They feel, but they don’t think.
They say things like, “I don’t believe in a God of love judging anyone,” “My God would never do thus and so,” or the classic, “I’m not into organized religion; I’m just a really spiritual person.”
We need to think carefully about these things.
We neglect theology at our own peril, because experience is never to be the basis for theology. Rather, sound theology should be the basis for our experience.
C.S. Lewis gave this warning: “If you do not listen to theology, that will not mean that you have no ideas about God. It will mean that you have a lot of wrong ones.”
The Wrong Jesus
The apostle Paul wrote, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (1 Timothy 4:16).
Yet, someone will say, “Well, I just love Jesus! Can’t we just set these things aside?” That is a nice sentiment, but here’s the problem: What if you end up loving the wrong Jesus?
For instance, if the Jesus whom you supposedly love sinned while He was on Earth, as half of the self-described Christians in the Barna poll believe, then what kind of savior is that?
If the Jesus you love is not the Jesus of the Bible, then effectively you’re an idolater. You’re worshiping another god.
Imagine if you boarded a plane, and just before takeoff, the pilot announced over the intercom, “Fuel schmuel! Let’s just see how far this bucket of bolts will go!”
Or, what would you think about a surgeon who said, “Hey, let’s just get out the scalpel, start cutting, and see what happens”? You would be alarmed. READ MORE
