Biblical Literacy

“As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.” (Acts 17:10-12 NIV)

During my long tenure in campus ministry, biblical illiteracy has always been a challenge in ministering to students. Most come from church backgrounds, but typically have little working knowledge of the Scriptures when they come onto campus. The University is often blamed for the massive exodus from the faith by Christian college students, which, according to most researchers, is minimally 50 % and likely much greater.  Instead, I place the blame at the feet of the churches in which they were raised.

Long ago, local churches decided it was much more important that young people participated in their youth programs than on what they actually learned; numbers were the operative measure of success. So the emphasis was placed on programs being attractive to youth rather than being effective in giving them a solid spiritual foundation from which would emerge an effective defense against the lies of the enemy, which are routinely taught and spread on campuses throughout the country. 

The result has been that high school graduates are totally unprepared to discern what is true and what is not. Unlike the Bereans to whom Paul and Silas spoke, they do not have the ability to reference the Scriptures to tell truth from fiction. They are like the proverbial lambs being led to slaughter.

But biblical illiteracy is not limited to young people raised in the church. I have met many adults who have attended church their whole lives who could not explain the gospel using the Scriptures. I have met elders and deacons who are functionally illiterate in the Scriptures. This helps explain why churches are so often spiritually weak and prone to error either in doctrinal matters or practice. Again, many have fallen to the temptation of viewing numbers as the measure of success, and have moved in the direction of emphasizing the appeal of their worship services and programs rather than teaching the truth of the Scriptures regardless how offensive or challenging they may be to those in the pews.

The Scriptures are, literally, God’s handbook on how to live for Him and in a way that pleases Him in the midst of a fallen world.  If we think we can accomplish this without His explicit guidance, we are badly mistaken. Our instincts will inevitably lead us in the wrong direction. And the enemy will exploit our lack of familiarity with the Scriptures to lead us into lies and deceptions. This is why we all need to be scripturally literate. 

Imagine you could not read. How would you function successfully in our world? The answer is you could not. The same is true with being a follower of Jesus in a fallen world.  If you are not biblically literate, you will have a very difficult time functioning the way the Lord intends.

Today, consider how literate you truly are in the Scriptures? Could you defend the faith against the charges of an atheist or skeptic? Can you listen to a teaching from a pastor and be able to discern whether what is taught is actually in line with the Bible? Could you correct a brother and sister on their behavior gently using the Scriptures? Biblically literate people can do all these things. If you do not believe you could, then it is time to become literate. Functional literacy in the Word is not optional for a follower of Jesus. It is a necessity for each one of us.

© Jim Musser 2017