Daily Devotional For Sunday, March 3, 2024

Well, it is Sunday. The day most Christians get up and go worship the One and only greatest God there is. It is supposed to be a day when we come together as a body of faith and celebrate and praise God for who He is. Genuine worship is dependent upon knowing intimately who you are worshipping. For example, in healthy families, members love and adore each other because of the intimate relationship they have and share. 

My concern is that for many Christians, they know about God, but they do not know God intimately. The best way to know God intimately is through His Word. Lack of knowing God’s Word equals a lack of knowing God. As a nation we spend billions on educating our children so they aren’t illiterate. When it comes to biblical literacy, most Christians are illiterate. They are ignorant. If they are ignorant of God’s Word, they are ignorant of who God is. And to me, the main reason is, God is not as important as other things in their lives.

Let me illustrate it to you. First, take your sports enthusiasts. They can tell you everything about not only their favorite sport, their favorite sports teams, their favorite players, their stats, history and record, many times they can elaborate on other sports, their teams and players as well. Why? Because sports is important to them.

Second, take your financial person who loves to invest. They track the Stock Market daily, following the trends up and down and if necessary, more their money accordingly. They have on their TVS or digital devices apps and TV shows that are specific to the markets and finances. 

Third, take your teen or young adult who loves video games. They can tell you which ones are the most exciting to play. They will network online and play other kids or people around the country. 

Fourth, take your music or entertainment person. They know what the top hit songs in their favorite genre are. They know what the top movies are to see. They can give you reviews as if they do this professionally. 

So, let me ask you. When was the last time any Christian came up to you and said, “Let me share with you one of my favorite Bible verses God has placed in my heart?” About as rare as finding Jimmy Hoffa’s body, isn’t it? Look at Proverbs 4:4, “He (God) taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast My words; keep My commandments, and live” (ESV). Notice — keeping God’s Word sustains your life. 

When it comes to knowing the Bible, most Christians are illiterate and ignorant. Oh, do not misunderstand me. Yes, they know the stories about Adam and Eve, Noah, David and Goliath, Jesus, and Paul. It is one thing to know the stories in the Bible. It is another thing to know personally and intimately the author of the Bible — Jesus Christ. Most Christians do not memorize any Scripture, but they can quote you song lyrics and movie lines. 

You have to ask, why is there so much biblical illiteracy among Christians? Well, several reasons stand out to me. First, apathy. They simply do not care. Second, laziness. Yes, it takes work to develop any relationship and this is especially true with God and being in God’s Word. Third, business. Yes, our schedules are full and overloaded but that is not God’s fault, that is ours.

Dr. Al Mohler is the President of Southern Theological Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Ky. He and I were in the PH.D program at the same time as students. I want to share with you something he has written about biblical illiteracy that is may shock, surprise and convict you about your level of biblical literacy:

“Fewer than half of all adults can name the four gospels. Many Christians cannot identify more than two or three of the disciples. According to data from the Barna Research Group, 60 percent of Americans can't name even five of the Ten Commandments. "No wonder people break the Ten Commandments all the time. They don't know what they are," said George Barna, president of the firm. The bottom line? "Increasingly, America is biblically illiterate.”

Multiple surveys reveal the problem in stark terms. According to 82% of Americans, "God helps those who help themselves," is a Bible verse. Those identified as born-again Christians did better--by 1%. A majority of adults think the Bible teaches that the most important purpose in life is taking care of one's family.

Some of the statistics are enough to perplex even those aware of the problem. A Barna poll indicated that at least 12% of adults believe that Joan of Arc was Noah's wife. Another survey of graduating high school seniors revealed that over 50% thought that Sodom and Gomorrah were husband and wife. A considerable number of respondents to one poll indicated that the Sermon on the Mount was preached by Billy Graham. We are in big trouble.

Secularized Americans should not be expected to be knowledgeable about the Bible. As the nation's civic conversation is stripped of all biblical references and content, Americans increasingly live in a Scripture-free public space. Confusion and ignorance of the Bible's content should be assumed in post-Christian America.

The larger scandal is biblical ignorance among Christians. Choose whichever statistic or survey you like, the general pattern is the same. America's Christians know less and less about the Bible. It shows.

How can a generation be biblically shaped in its understanding of human sexuality when it believes Sodom and Gomorrah to be a married couple? No wonder Christians show a growing tendency to compromise on the issue of homosexuality. Many who identify themselves as Christians are similarly confused about the Gospel itself. An individual who believes that "God helps those who help themselves" will find salvation by grace and justification by faith to be alien concepts.

Christians who lack biblical knowledge are the products of churches that marginalize biblical knowledge. Bible teaching now often accounts for only a diminishing fraction of the local congregation's time and attention. The move to small group ministry has certainly increased opportunities for fellowship, but many of these groups never get beyond superficial Bible study.

Youth ministries are asked to fix problems, provide entertainment, and keep kids busy. How many local-church youth programs actually produce substantial Bible knowledge in young people? Even the pulpit has been sidelined in many congregations. Preaching has taken a back seat to other concerns in corporate worship. The centrality of biblical preaching to the formation of disciples is lost, and Christian ignorance leads to Christian indolence and worse” (Source: https://albertmohler.com/2016/01/20/the-scandal-of-biblical-illiteracy-its-our-problem-4).

So where do we start to fix this problem? First, in the home. God gave parents the primary responsibility of teaching their children about God and His Word to the church and its children and youth ministries, no matter how faithful and biblical it may be. God assigned parents this non-negotiable responsibility, and children must see their Christian parents as teachers and fellow students of God's Word.Look at Deuteronomy 6:4-9:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. (5) You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (6) And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. (7) You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. (8) You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. (9) You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (ESV).

Dr. Mohler continues with where we need to start:

“Second, we start in our churches. Churches must recover the centrality and urgency of biblical teaching and preaching, and refuse to sideline the teaching ministry of the preacher. Pastors and churches too busy--or too distracted--to make biblical knowledge a central aim of ministry will produce believers who simply do not know enough to be faithful disciples.

We will not believe more than we know, and we will not live higher than our beliefs. The many fronts of Christian compromise in this generation can be directly traced to biblical illiteracy in the pews and the absence of biblical preaching and teaching in our homes and churches” (Source: https://albertmohler.com/2016/01/20/the-scandal-of-biblical-illiteracy-its-our-problem-4).

Look at Proverbs 6:20-23: 

“My son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not your mother's teaching. (21) Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck. (22) When you walk, they[ will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you. (23)  For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life” (ESV).

One of the first Bible verses I memorized was by King David in Psalm 119:11, “Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee” (KJV). The King James Version was the only version we had at the time. Today, we have multiple translations. Here are a few:

• Psalm 119:11, “How can a young person live a clean life? By carefully reading the map of your Word. I’m single-minded in pursuit of You; don’t let me miss the road signs You’ve posted. I’ve banked your promises in the vault of my heart so I won’t sin myself bankrupt. Be blessed, God; train me in Your ways of wise living. I’ll transfer to my lips all the counsel that comes from Your mouth; I delight far more in what You tell me about living than in gathering a pile of riches. I ponder every morsel of wisdom from You, I attentively watch how You’ve done it. I relish everything You’ve told me of life, I won’t forget a word of it” (MSG).
• Psalm 119:11, “I have stored up Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (ESV).
• Psalm 119:11, “I have thought much about Your words and stored them in my heart so that they would hold me back from sin” (TLB).
• Psalm 119:11, “I have taken Your words to heart so I would not sin against You” (ICB).

Find a translation you like and start becoming less biblical illiterate. Commit to becoming a student of God’s Word so that you know it, believe it and live it. In turn, you will discover you will grow more intimately in your relationship to Jesus Christ as well. The Deuteronomy 6:4-9 passage you read above reminds us that God wants Himself to revolve around our total lives and culture. As a result, Jews would hang on their doorpost what is called a Mezuzah and inside if was printed Deuteronomy 6:4-9. We have one hanging on the door frame of our front door to remind us of this command from God to be intentional to cultivate our relationship to God by being in His Word. 

Questions To Consider

• Was it an apple Adam and Eve ate in the Garden of Eden? If you do not know, look at Genesis 3:6 to find out. What does that tell you?
• How many magi came to see Jesus at His birth? One, two, three or more? If you are not sure, read Matthew 2:1-12. Jesus was presented with 3 gifts, but is the Christian carol “We Thee Kings of Orient Are” correct?
• Was Jonah swallowed by a whale? Well, that is what most churches teach in their children’s ministry. If you are not sure, read Jonah 1:17 in your Bible.
• People often say, “Money is the root of all evil.” Is that what God’s Word says? If you are not sure, read 1 Timothy 6:10 in your Bible .
• Many times when bad things are happening, people will say, “Well, you know, it is just like the Bible says, this too shall pass.” Does the Bible say this? It does say a certain phrase  over 400 times, but is this the phrase? If you are not sure, read 2 Corinthians 4:17-18. 
• Your mother may have said this one too. “You know the Bible says cleanliness is next to godliness.” The Bible never says this, but do you know who did and how it got into our American culture?
• Is “God works in mysterious ways” in the Bible? If you are not sure, here is what the Bible does say in Isaiah 55:8-9. 
• Some people think Jesus said, “Love the sinner. Hate the sin.” Did Jesus say this? Look at specifically what Jesus said in Matthew 5:43-44. I’ll help you a bit. It was a 5^th century Christian named Augustine who said: “With love for mankind and hatred of sins” and later Ghandi said this phrase above. 
• Some Christians say the Bible says, “Be in the world, but not of the world.” That exact phrase is not in the Bible at all. Surprise! So, why do people think it is. Read John 15:19; John 17:14-15 and Romans 12:1-2 to see why.
• Here is another phase Christians will say when trying to console someone: “God will not give you more than you can handle.” They do this based on their misunderstanding and misquoting 1 Corinthians 10:13. There are numerous stories in the Bible where God allowed more than a person could handle: ex., Job, Jesus, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace, Daniel in the lion’s den, the disciples, apostles and Paul.

Scripture to Meditate On: Proverbs 7:2-3, “Keep My commandments and live; keep My teaching as the apple of your eye; (3) bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart” (ESV).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, I need to be in Your Word more so that I am into You more. I have to confess, that I can put my focus on so many other good things, but not necessarily godly things. Please forgive me for my choice not to be a student of Your Word. I commit to You today to know Your Word so that I know You more intimately. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside, Pastor Kelly