Present the Whole Message of God

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

Some years ago, our family started attending a relatively new church in the Atlanta area.  I had been somewhat encouraged by the Lead Pastor after some discussions we had at a nearby coffee shop.  However, after some time I realized that there was a problem. The Word of God was not taught seriously/completely.

There were two instances that occurred which really troubled me. The first happened when the Assistant Pastor preached because the lead Pastor was away. His message showed a problem many churches have. He basically told us

“he was not comfortable teaching theological issues, and besides, it was not all that important anyway. We should be focusing more on just loving and experiencing Jesus and not on all that theological stuff.”

I was absolutely appalled. This was one of the most absurd statements I had ever heard coming from the pulpit anywhere. Jesus Himself told us,

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” John 14:15.

How can we keep His commandments if we do not know what those commandments are? And how can we spread the truth of God to the lost in our culture when we believe what God tells us in His word is not that important? Unfortunately,  this is more prevalent in today’s culture than we want to admit.

The second was when my son was interviewed by the Lead Pastor for a possible internship at the same church. The seminary he attended required him to sit under a pastor and get some real-time experience in ministry. After his meeting with him, he called me up to tell me it was not going to work. I asked him why. And the reason he was given told me he had no reason to intern there. In fact, we left the church shortly after. The reason they gave was, “he knew too much about the Bible”.  Sadly, these are but two instances regarding the minimizing of Christian teachings not just in the church I mentioned, but many others throughout our society.

Theologian Francis Schaeffer alludes to the idea that modern theology has turned Jesus more into a religious word and idea rather than the living God He is. Sadly, I must agree with him. Much modern theology wants us to ignore teachings and historical evidences along with our actual fallen nature and focus only on what makes people feel good. This may bring people into the church, but not necessarily into the Kingdom. Many have become more focused on what they want to do rather than what God has called them to do.  We must remember what the Apostle Paul says Christians are.

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:17-19. 

Jesus laid this out at the end of the Sermon on the Mount when He said the following,

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” Matthew 7:21-23. 

Essentially what He said  was knowing about Him is not enough. Knowing Him, truly knowing Him as our Savior, Lord, and God is what makes the difference. How can we know Him and His Word if we do not read and study it and allow Him through His Holy Spirit to reveal the truth to us. And how can we know Him if we do not learn about Him through His Word as well as through fervent prayer and fellowship with Him.  I say it again, we must know Him, not just know about Him.

It is absolutely important that we as Christians study the scriptures, keep in a constant attitude of prayer and trust God in all our ways so we can become more like Christ. The world is watching us and if we are not showing them reality, they will know it and will reject our message. There is a phrase I use often when talking to others about the gospel. Regarding our Christian walk:

                   “If we are not all in, then we are not in at all.”

If they do not see us as “all in”, then why would they accept our call for them to be all In? God and His Word must be the most important thing in our lives, and everyone should see it clearly in us. We must show our love by desiring to know more and more about Him. We must stand against the idea that theology, history, apologetics and discipleship are not that important. I believe this is a move of the enemy to keep God’s people from growing and maturing in their Christian walk, and to keep them weak so he may steal, kill and destroy as many as he can. It is our job, through the Holy Spirit, to disciple our brothers and sisters so that they can be strong and immovable regarding their Christian walk. Church leaders must be consistent and committed to preaching and teaching the whole of God’s Word.  If God gave it all to us, which He did, then how can we proclaim any of it as unimportant?