A Shallow Bibliology Starts in the Church
If you were to have any kind of practical Biblical discussion with the average theological liberal, they would probably attempt to defend their positions with small snippets of misapplied, out-of-context Bible verses. Nothing is more frustrating than laying out specific, detailed, Biblical standards of doctrine and practice only to have it answered with, “Judge not!” or “God is love.” It can be downright discouraging to even attempt to share true doctrine if you know the person you are talking to does not have the slightest interest in what the Bible actually says.
Where do people get these incomplete and cliche phrases? How do they strip them of their context, build their own narrative around it, and arrive at a novel application backed by nothing but their own preconceived opinions? The answer, in many cases, is church. They may pick up the actual phrases or words from a worldly source here or there, but they believe it because all too often this is the same exact logic they hear in conservative, Bible-believing churches.
Even among believers who believe and hold to correct theology, it is sadly not uncommon to experience a shallow, loose treatment of Scripture. All too often, the ends justify the means. The meaning of a verse or passage is stretched beyond its intended meaning, but as long as the application or point being made is good, no harm, right? This results in generations of Christians growing up with a framework of belief they are taught is true and biblical while the only Scripture to support it consist of a few hastily thrown-together verses that use some of the same keywords or phraseology. Now the beliefs in question may actually be correct, but that is not the point.
With proper Bible hermeneutics and study, or at least the bare minimum of reading the surrounding passage to get the bigger picture, you soon find that many of these verses simply are not saying what you were always led to believe they said. When someone is taught their entire life that these beliefs and doctrines are true because the Bible says so, and they then discover that the Bible verses given to them are not actually saying what was claimed, it can lead to serious doubt about the rest of what was claimed. Now if they stick with the Bible, they can apply it correctly and arrive at an even stronger faith, but many times after realizing they were misled, they are open to the influence of smooth talkers who twist apart other verses convincing them of things that are completely unbiblical. After all, they have already learned to accept simplistic statements as fact based on minimal study of Scripture.
In a healthy church that is based firmly on Scripture, doctrine needs to be taught clearly and deeply from the text. Overly simplifying every teaching to be easily and readily received is not the goal, and neither is summing up complex doctrines with short, punchy, or alliterated statements. These things aren’t necessarily wrong if used as tools to aid understanding or memory, but every Christian should be enabled and taught to fully examine and wrestle with the raw Scripture and its meaning. Also when questions against important teachings arise, resist the urge to shut it up with a mocking response or simply throw a single verse or two at it. Take time to respond with examinations of full Bible passages. Assign homework if needed in the form of recommended reading or an essay expositing a passage or two of Scripture. Those with sincere questions will appreciate it. People are still willing to hold firmly to the truth, they just want to be sure they are holding to the correct truth.
We live in a culture where the world expects us to hold to something simply because it feels right, or because we are told this is what every reasonable, loving person thinks and feels. Sadly, many churches, through a lack of sound Bible teaching, have adopted this same practice. They say “This is what every REAL Christian believes.” You can be sure they will tag on half a Bible verse too. Now they might be absolutely right with both statements, but that should not replace actual Bible teaching. We have trained a generation of Christians to be lazy when it comes to understanding their Bible. We have taught them it is too difficult to understand. “Leave it to the preacher to discover those hidden truths.” “Simply read a chapter a day, and maybe focus on a single verse or two that speaks to you.” This is probably the highest expectation given to believers in many churches, and it shows. We must get back to making the Bible the foundation of our faith and practice; not in word or theory, but in practice.
