The Causes and Cures of the Dysfunctional Church, Part V

The fifth and final dysfunction of the American church is that it is untaught. With all the tapes, CDs, DVDs, radio and television ministries, books, and literature; today’s church remains ignorant of a healthy knowledge of the scriptures. What has happened in the church to prevent God’s people from a love for the truth? How come most of today’s forty and younger generation has a very shallow knowledge of the most basic Bible stories and elementary doctrine?

Pastor Stocksdale in The Remnant writes, “Paul reminded Timothy that he, Timothy, had known the Holy Scriptures since childhood, as early childhood for the Hebrews always included memorizing the Torah. We, unfortunately, have “progressed” past a reliance on the Scriptures and have substituted motivational relevance for Bible knowledge. Don’t get me wrong; I am definitely in favor of relevant messages because because the attention deficit of this generation usually prevents them from even reading, let alone studying or intently learning, the Scripture. However, the goal of our creative approaches to preaching should be to aid in understanding and applying the Scripture, not in becoming self-help and motivational gurus.”

The Cure: Instruction in the Holy Scriptures Through the Teacher

The teacher is the fifth of the fivefold callings in Ephesians 4:11 and is often combined with the office of the pastor for the purpose of feeding the sheep. A pastor cannot pastor effectively without teaching the holy Scriptures. It is the Scriptures that transforms hearts and changes lives, even in the 21st century.

Hosea 4:6 states, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” [KJV] Is it any wonder that today’s churches are filled with people that are very much like the world in their thoughts, speech, finances, and marriages? We as pastors must examine every phase of our church and ask ourselves the basic question, what does this do to enhance a person’s understanding of the Scriptures? All of our ministries should conclude with a deepening of that foundation. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17, NKJV).

A lack of knowledge of the Scriptures has left our congregations anemic, dysfunctional, and defeated. We must tale active steps to ensure that a new generation of Bible-loving believers is trained and skilled in biblical knowledge. All of our ministries, programs, services, schools, and missions should answer one question: Does this teach people the Scriptures?