Reflections of 25 Years: If you can’t pass a Bible quiz, you need a kick in the seat of the pants

Dr. Randy WhitePardon me for being blunt, but some of you need to stop reading the latest Christian books and blogs and start reading the Bible. I’ll give you a basic Bible quiz at the end of this article so you can see how strong your Bible knowledge is.It’s no secret that Bible knowledge is not high in the world today. It’s also quickly evident that even the church is weak in Bible knowledge.And here’s the dirty little secret: the average long-term church member would fail a basic Bible and theology quiz. I’m talking about deacons and Bible study teachers and church leaders and yes, even Pastors.First of all, Bible teaching is almost never honored today (even though it receives a lot of lip service). In churches where preaching is honored, the values of the preaching have far more to do with rhetoric and powers of persuasion than biblical content. Depending upon the denominational affinities, the sermon is judged by whether the speaker encourages people, or convicts people, or draws the evangelistic net, or condemns immorality, or tells nice stories sandwiched between pretty (or not-so-pretty) music. But rarely is solid Bible content in the preaching service valued. We’ve even come to the point of having different definitions and concepts of preaching and teaching. Preachers are told to preach on Sunday morning (when the masses are present) and teach on Sunday night (to the handful that come).Do realize that we bring our babies to church to be dedicated to the Lord, then 18 years later–having raised them in the church–we bring them before the church to be recognized as High School graduates. We find that they are good readers, they know geometry better than we do, understand secular humanistic or materialistic science, are becoming fluent in Spanish, French, or German, and they’ve won several awards in athletics. But with all this learning, and with 18 years of faithful church and Sunday School attendance, these confident, good-looking, sassy young men and women can’t tell us basic theology if their lives depended on it. All they know is that Jesus died and rose again, and somehow a person cay say a prayer and get saved. The depth of their theological knowledge is, “Love God, Love others.”What a waste!But the truth is, their mom and dad can’t pass the test either. Furthermore, even grandma and grandpa can’t tell you much about the Bible or basic doctrine.What’s wrong with this? I think it is perfectly pitiful. I also believe it stems from the fact that we do not value Bible knowledge in the church today. We appreciate cool music, nice facilities, coffee, and crowds. If we have these, that is sufficient.

Quit Having a Quiet Time

If Bible knowledge is “not your thing,” don’t give me the, “It’s not my spiritual gift” response. Frankly, it isn’t a gift to learn the Bible; it is a RESPONSIBILITY. Every believer should “study to show thyself approved” (2 Tim. 2:15). A generation ago, they began to teach us to have a quiet time. The teaching of a quiet time has been part of the problem, not the solution. Nowhere in the Bible is a quiet time taught, yet evangelical believers almost exclusively feel obligated to the quiet time, and guilty if they don’t have one. Look up almost any instruction for the quiet time and you’ll find something like this: “take a pen, paper, devotional book, Bible, and possibly a hymnal. Read one or two verses of Scripture (don’t overdo it, this isn’t Bible study time), read a devotional (preferably from the denominational publishing house), sing a song, then listen to God speak and write down what He says.”Friend, a quiet time like that is heresy, and you shouldn’t do it. You’ll never find that kind of instruction in the Bible itself. The quiet time came out of mystical monastic practices of what is today called “spiritual formations” or “spiritual disciplines” (beware of teachings on both, they are filled with landmines). A couple of generations ago, Christians didn’t have a daily quiet time, but they did have personal Bible study. They read the Bible (often in Greek and Hebrew…with no computer aids). The knowledge of the content of the Bible was paramount. In fact, no education was considered complete without a mastery of theology.Some of the most Biblically illiterate people are the church members who should know the most. If this is you, take the “shame on you” as an encouragement toward greater study. Don’t whine about it being too hard, or about how you don’t know Greek, or “it’s just not my thing.” Just open your Bible at Genesis 1 and begin to read it for study purposes (like you would read a history or a math book, to master it’s content). In time, you’ll grow a hunger for knowledge and learning the truth, the truth will set you free. I cannot tell you how many older believers (even Pastors and other church leaders) give me thanks for leading them to a knowledge-based faith and practice rather than one based on feelings.Feelings are nice when they are nice. Knowledge is ALWAYS a blessing.

To take the Randy White Ministries 10-question Bible Quiz, click here.

To read other articles in this series, click here.