Tag Archives: Theology

Greg Laurie: ‘Biblical IQ’ has never been lower

Important Takeaways:

  • In a poll by the Barna Group, half of those who described themselves as Christians didn’t believe that Satan exists, and one-third were confident that Jesus sinned while He was on Earth.
  • It seems to me that in the church today, there’s a rising biblical illiteracy among professed followers of Jesus. Our biblical IQ, if you will, never has been lower.
  • As George Barna put it, “Growing numbers of people now serve as their own theologian-in-residence.”
  • Biblically Thinking
  • We need to think and act biblically, not emotionally. Far too many people today emote when it comes to God. They feel, but they don’t think. They say things like, “I don’t believe in a God of love judging anyone,” “My God would never do thus and so,” or the classic, “I’m not into organized religion; I’m just a really spiritual person.”
  • We need to think carefully about these things. We neglect theology at our own peril, because experience is never to be the basis for theology. Rather, sound theology should be the basis for our experience.
  • C.S. Lewis gave this warning: “If you do not listen to theology, that will not mean that you have no ideas about God. It will mean that you have a lot of wrong ones.”
  • The Wrong Jesus
  • The apostle Paul wrote, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (1 Timothy 4:16).
  • Yet, someone will say, “Well, I just love Jesus! Can’t we just set these things aside?” That is a nice sentiment, but here’s the problem: What if you end up loving the wrong Jesus?
  • For instance, if the Jesus whom you supposedly love sinned while He was on Earth, as half of the self-described Christians in the Barna poll believe, then what kind of savior is that? If the Jesus you love is not the Jesus of the Bible, then effectively you’re an idolater. You’re worshiping another god.
  • A. W. Tozer said, “Nothing twists or deforms the soul more than a low or unworthy conception of God.”
  • We must have a proper understanding of the character and nature of God, and there is no better place to start than with God Himself. What does the Bible say about God?
  • The Unchanging Lord
  • People today are willing to accept the premise of God, but it seems they want a god in their own image. As Voltaire pointed out, “God made man in His image, and man returned the favor.” And that is what we largely have today: a generation that believes in a god of their own making.
  • We customize a god that does what we want him to do and says what we want him to say.
  • But that is not the way to know God. We don’t mold God into our own image; He wants to mold us into His. God said, “I am the Lord, and I do not change” (Malachi 3:6).
  • Though times and circumstances change, God never does.
  • When you believe God, it doesn’t necessarily change your circumstances, though sometimes it will. More often than not, it will change you. It will help you to view your circumstances properly.
  • On the other hand, if we don’t understand who God is, if our view of God is warped, then it will affect us in the way that we live. Let’s make sure we are worshiping the true God as He is presented to us in the pages of Scripture.

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Current state of Theology paints a bleak picture

2 Timothy 3:6,7 “They are the kind who worm their way into households and captivate vulnerable women who are weighed down with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 who are always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.

Important Takeaways:

  • What ‘The State of Theology’ Tells Us
  • This year’s State of Theology study’s results show that not just Americans but evangelicals in particular are increasingly muddy on core truths such as the nature and character of God, the reality of human sin, the role of the Church in the world, and the exclusivity and divinity of Jesus Christ.
  • Nearly half of evangelicals agreed that God “learns and adapts” to different circumstances, in stark contrast to the biblical doctrine of unchanging nature, or immutability;
  • 65 percent of evangelicals agreed that everyone is “born innocent in the eyes of God,” denying the doctrine of original sin, and with it, the very reason that people need salvation in the first place
  • Some 56 percent of evangelicals agreed with the idea that “God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam,” in contrast to Jesus’ words in Matthew that without Him, “no one knows the Father.”
  • When asked whether they agreed that “Jesus was a great teacher …but not God,” 43 percent of American evangelicals answered yes.
  • The State of Theology paints a bleak picture.
  • It’s worth noting that these failures are not because evangelicals have a low view of Scripture. Some 95 percent, after all, still agree with the statement that “the Bible is 100 percent accurate in all that it teaches.” The implication, then, is that they simply don’t know what it teaches, either because they haven’t been taught or they haven’t cared enough to learn.

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