Biblically Illiterate, Motivation, Bible Interpretation,
False Teachers, Accountability, Core Message
Lucas, a young man from Vietnam who grew up with his
Irish-Catholic adoptive parents here in the US, held some strong opinions that
the Bible is just another man-made religious book among many. So I asked him how much he had read the Bible
for himself and he explained that he really had no exposure to the Bible in
their household. I had to point out the
obvious, that his knowledge of the Bible came not from the Bible itself but
from the opinions of others.
In our information age, the Bible is available in multiple
formats and languages to more people than ever, yet more people are becoming
biblically illiterate as it competes in the marketplace of ideas. It can’t be enough to just tell unbelievers to
read the Bible for themselves. From
their perspective, why should they? It’s
a big book, why would they invest the time and energy when there are so many
other entertaining and interesting things to focus on?
I think back to my own experiences with the Bible and it was
only after I came to faith in Christ that I was motivated to read the Bible on
my own. Until then, I only heard
selected Bible passages and paraphrases of the basic Gospel from faithful
people who distilled it down and explained its truths in a way I could
understand.
Lucas correctly pointed out that there are many different
ways to interpret the message of the Bible.
If he really isn’t going to read it for himself, who could he trust to
accurately portray what it says? I
believe a very important passage in this regard is James 3:1, which says “Not
many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that
we who teach will be judged more strictly.”
Believers can and should be trusted more than others to
accurately teach the Bible because of our accountability to handle it correctly
and represent God’s message accurately.
Sceptics, religious hucksters and conspiracy theorists are all trying to
profit from the Bible for self-serving reasons, and it shouldn’t surprise us
that they will misinterpret its message to make false claims or maximize their
profits.
Being aware of these self-serving motives doesn’t help the
biblically illiterate discern false teachers, however, who may or may not be
aware of their own false representation of the Bible’s core message. All the more reason for us as believers to
correctly share the biblical Gospel as best we can, to point out the errors of
false teachers, and pray that unbelievers will come to faith and the Holy
Spirit-given motivation to read the Bible on their own.
Thanks, Lucas, for allowing me to record our
conversation! It can be viewed HERE at https://youtu.be/_cAsIHsUFNQ
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