Church for Dummies – 2
Christians buy books to tell them what’s in the Bible. Why this need? What are they hearing at church?
I teach the Bible in a public high school. It’s not just “Scripture lessons.” We actually let the Bible stand on its own. We get through more Bible in one week in a class of un-churched teenagers than many local churches get in months. Why is this?
Christians aren’t dumb. Are we starving the sheep because we are afraid of offending outsiders? We need churches that teach all of the Bible to all of the people. It really isn’t that hard. People are so hungry for it that Hollywood has filled the gap. The Bible isn’t much more complex than a long-running prime-time show if we spend the time on it. But most Christians don’t even have a basic framework so they get sucked into subtle heresy like The Shack. Church is so dumbed down.
The Bible only seems irrelevant because we don’t teach it. When we actually teach its narratives (and not just systematic theology), it creates its own relevance.
The narratives themselves (obviously with some helpful exposition) communicate the systematics in context, memorably, and very powerfully.
I love watching my students put the pieces together. Just teach the Book and watch people change. As we teach it, they learn how to read it, and then interpret the world by it.
