DUMBING DOWN THE GOSPEL

 

For decades, maybe even a century or little more, we've seen a downgrade in Christianity.  False Christians have crept in and created a "dumbed-down" gospel.

If you or someone you know are teachers/educators in the public school system, the one thing you don't do is tweak your curriculum to make it less challenging for the "slower" students.  You teach the curriculum as it is for those students who are more intellectually capable of learning the subject matter while helping the "slower" students better understand the material.  You don't bring down the intellectually capable to the level of the "slower" people.  You bring the "slower" ones up to or as close to the level of the more intellectual students.

I've said before that I never really liked Vacation Bible School and it's not that there's anything inherently wrong with the concept of VBS; it's that I never liked the curriculum.  To me, even as a child, I thought it was too simple.  I'm not saying I'm on a higher intellectual plane.  I'm saying the material didn't challenge me. 

I remember reading how schools at one time were offering what I would call high school/college type subjects to kids in upper elementary grades.  For instance, teaching algebra in 5th or 6th grade.  Or teaching Latin to 3rd graders.  These are subjects that are now introduced in high school or even in early college courses.  The younger generation is leaving school not being able to understand stuff that some of us were taught in 3rd and 4th grade and that's sad.

I think public schools have given society as a whole the impression that young children don't have the capacity to learn hard subjects and because of this, Christian literature/curriculum that churches purchase for their young kids Sunday School/VBS classes are too simplistic.  The American education system is producing ignorant young adults, and the church is following suit.

This ideology has carried over into the pulpit.

I believe many pastors dumb down the gospel message for those few in the congregation who may be either unsaved or newly converted.  So, while the pastor is consistently feeding his congregation "milk" for those few who aren't saved or not as far along in their spiritual walk as the majority, the ones who are further along in their spiritual growth are being starved of the "meat" they need to continue in their maturity.

People may ask, "But what if they leave because they can't understand what the pastor is preaching?"  Well......

A. If they're not saved, they wouldn't understand it anyway because the Bible teaches that the "natural man" (unsaved) cannot know the things of God (1 Corinthians 2:14).  They are not THE CHURCH.  They are goats among the sheep, tares among the wheat.  If they leave and complain that they didn't understand what the pastor was preaching, well, that message wasn't for them anyway.  If they continue to stay and drink in what the pastor is preaching, then, it's the Holy Spirit who is keeping them there and will eventually lead them to salvation.

B.  If they're newly converted, if they continue in good, sound, biblical study, they'll eventually understand it because it is the Holy Spirit who gives understanding.  Ever read a Bible verse multiple times not understanding it but after the 30th time reading it, you suddenly understand what the verse actually meant?  That is being taught by the Holy Spirit.

So, I ask any Bible pastor/teacher who reads this, please, stop dumbing down the gospel for the few in your church who are either unsaved or newly converted.  It's not up to you to make them understand.  That is the job of the Holy Spirit.  Just preach the hard stuff and trust the Holy Spirit to do His work by giving your hearers the comprehension they need to know biblical truth.