Sometimes we look out into the vastness of this world and we think, “How can I make a difference for the Kingdom?” We peer across the oceans or cyberspace and we want to make an impact by sharing the Gospel and we should and I encourage you as often as I can via this blog to do just that.
Today, though I was reminded that sometimes the way to reach across the sea and the internet might be to start right here at home.
Imagine if you created something online that reached, I don’t know, one thousand people. That would be a nice start for sure, but what if instead of this effort you reached twenty people that you personally know and they then each reached one thousand people!
Sometimes, we truly cannot see the forest for the trees or the opportunities that are right in front of us. What reminded me of this came from a visit that I had today with an associate pastor friend of mine who had just started teaching a new class on how to study the Bible.
The things that he shared with me didn’t shock me since I had encountered identical issues in my own experience, but it did serve to remind me of how much need there is at home.
The people that are in this class to learn the Bible are in fact Biblically illiterate. The wonderful news is that these people are showing up to do something about that fact. The bad news is that these people for the most part are not new to the church and they are not alone.
Visit many churches today and randomly choose people and do a little digging and you would find that they would have a difficult time finding even the more famous books within the Bible without looking them up.
These people would have a difficult time telling you any kind of chronological history of the Bible. They would have a hard time differentiating between an Old Testament prophet and a New Testament Apostle.
Ask them to give you a rundown of the requirements of an elder and you would be likely to get a blank stare. Ask them to explain the Gospel and expect them to start looking for a way to escape.
Yet as I was reminded this morning, these same people have been convicted of their sins at some point and believe that Christ died for these sins. These people have demonstrated a love for their fellow man and church member but through their illiteracy have this mistaken belief that this is sufficient.
Now I daresay that most of you that are going to read this blog know your Bible pretty well and you are the ones that care to read things such as this. It therefore falls to you to do something about this situation.
Does your church have sufficient educational classes in place that people can grow in their knowledge of the Bible or are the classes more along the lines of how to do better financially?
If you do have a class like, “How to study the Bible”, can you reach the people that need to attend?
There has to be a fair amount of thought given to the promotion of this class so that not just those that would jump at the opportunity will attend but also the many people who feel ashamed about their lack of knowledge. Many of those assume that everyone around them knows the Bible inside and out and they don’t want to betray what might be a false image that others have about them.
Start the class by not assuming anything yourselves. Don’t assume that just newcomers to the church will need or want to attend a “How to study the Bible” class. Don’t assume even the smallest things about what people know about the Bible. Nor is it a good idea to think that everyone has a Bible and if they are looking to buy one, what to look for when they purchase. A class such as this can answer questions that people always wanted to ask but were afraid to ask or did not even think about asking.
From personal experience I think that it is also a good idea to post it everywhere you can from the weekly bulletin to the monthly newsletter, put it on the wall and put it on Facebook, send out emails and invite people face to face. I cannot stress enough how just as we can’t just think that someone is knowledgeable about the Bible we also shouldn’t think that everyone is as comfortable within the confines of the church. Sometimes people need to be led by the hand into a class and then watch as they become a dynamo with regard to their involvement.
Once you have had success with this class I would suggest you open it up to your community by advertising an upcoming class. I am confident that there will be people who have not been attending a church who will respond as well as those who are but are not having their needs met.
Once educated in the Bible and actually aware of the Gospel you will have given people a priceless gift that they cannot help but pass on. The end results you may never know until our Father tells you!
