From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part 2 of a 13-part series. Read part 1.

Recent surveys indicate that the answer is, "Not nearly as much as they used to."

Doctrine Doesn't Matter?

As we mentioned in the first article of this series, reliable surveys tell us that only 15% of adults in Evangelical churches read the Bible regularly, and 35% never read it at all. Systematic, chapter-by-chapter, verse-by-verse, expository preaching of the Word of God has mostly given way to a topical, motivational approach geared toward the felt needs of the audience. Look at the major television church programs today, and that is what you will see. Much of it is the same kind of talk you would hear from a motivational consultant in a business setting, only the one in church has some religious jargon thrown in.

The church is unplugged from its source of authority and power, the Holy Scriptures. When the church neglects the Bible, it creates a spiritual vacuum. What is true in physics is also true in the church: Nature abhors a vacuum. The secular mindset fills that vacuum. Man, not God, becomes the source of authority. As a result, man's word, not God's Word, shapes the church's agenda. If the church doesn't teach the Word of God, it teaches the thinking of the world. There is no third alternative.

As the church disconnects itself from the Word of God, the results are disastrous. The church unplugged becomes the church uncertain about Biblical truth. And the church uncertain becomes the church that doesn't really care how its people live.

Uncertainty About Doctrine

Is the situation in the Evangelical church really that bad? Consider these statistics on Evangelicals' beliefs about essential doctrines: 37% of adults in Evangelical churches do not believe the Bible is totally accurate. 45% do not believe Jesus Christ was sinless. 52% do not believe Satan is real. 57% do not believe that Jesus is the only way to eternal life. 57% believe that good works play a part in gaining eternal life. A similar number of Evangelical adults believe that other religions are valid ways to God.¹ [For a more detailed anaylsis, see our article, New Survey Reports Rampant Unbelief Among Self-Described Evangelicals.]

Laxity in Morals

In a church that has lost its doctrinal anchor, sin is often trivialized: "We've all made mistakes" - "We've all made some poor choices in life" - "Nobody's perfect" - "Some of us have made poor lifestyle choices." Cohabitation outside of marriage used to be called "living in sin" and considered shameful. But it is rare to hear such preaching today.

Examples of the trivialization of sin in the Evangelical church abound. According to a recent survey, less than 10% of adults in Evangelical churches cite the Bible as the primary basis of their worldview and behavior.² According to another recent survey, 19% of those who are living with a partner outside of marriage identify themselves as Evangelical Christians.³ A well-known mega-church that is built on the Purpose-Driven Church model found that although 91% of its people stated that their highest value in life is having a deep personal relationship with God, 25% of the church's singles, 38% of its single parents, and 41% of its divorced members "admitted to having illicit sexual relationships in the last 6 months."⁴

Failed Paradigms

The Purpose-Driven Church and Emergent Church paradigms place church members on a spiritual starvation diet, affirm people in their sins, and do not confront them from Scripture with their need for true repentance and faith in Christ. They do not confront people with the Biblical teaching that those who are truly born from above, though not perfect people, will live changed lives as a result of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Often a focus on "acceptance" and "affirmation" means that today's church turns a blind eye to mankind's total depravity, the eternal consequences of sin, and the immense price that had to be paid for sinners' redemption by the Son of God Himself. The Bible's clarion call to repentance and faith in Christ is being supplanted by a therapeutic "gospel" that leaves people feeling better about themselves, but still eternally lost. Religious bookstores (it's a step too far to call most of them "Christian" anymore) are full of books that supposedly present the Gospel of God's provision of salvation from sin for eternity, but instead they offer nothing more than psychological self-help for the here and now.

Right Doctrine and Right Living: An Unbreakable Connection

Scripture teaches that right doctrine is what produces right living. The two are inseparable. The apostle Paul drives this point home in Romans chapter six, and in First Timothy:

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:15-18).

If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing... (1 Timothy 6:3-4).

The Evangelical church needs to get hold of these truths once again.

Another sad result of the dearth of sound doctrine is that Evangelicals are increasingly unable to defend Christian moral positions to their children or in the public square. We'll consider that problem in our next installment.

Next: Can Evangelicals Defend Biblical Morality - From the Bible?

References:

1. These statistics are from Barna Research, www.barna.org, especially the Barna Research report, Religious Beliefs Vary Widely By Denomination, 2001.

2. Barna Research.

3. The U. S. Religious Landscape Survey 2008, available online at http://religions.pewforum.org, page 68. This survey was conducted by The Pew Forum on Religion in Public Life, a research arm of The Pew Charitable Trusts.

4. A survey conducted by George reported in G. A. Pritchard, Willow Creek Seeker Services: Evaluating a New Way of Doing Church (Baker Books, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1996), p. 236.

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