What role should the Bible have in the life of a local church? How prominent should the Scriptures be in services, classes, small groups, and various ministries the church leads throughout the week? My friend Bradley Pinkerton (pastoral intern at Anniston Bible Church) and I had a discussion about this not too long ago. As we meditated on the authority, power, and life-giving nature of God’s Word (Psalm 19:7-10; Psalm 119; Luke 24:27; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 4:12-13; 2 Peter 1:19-21) we concluded that a church’s degree of validity should be based on the level of commitment that church has to the Scriptures. So, the chief aim of this blog-post is to identify the role of Scripture in differing church models and then evaluate them based on the litmus test of God’s Word. My prayer is that this post will help Christians discern what they should look for when searching for a local church, what they should expect from their existing local church, and how they should pray for the leadership of their local church.
No critique (like this one) can be fully accurate or entirely exhaustive in nature. Admittedly, I paint with a broad brush. However, I do believe the following labels are generally accurate and can certainly be utilized to evaluate any local church you attend. Three kinds of local churches exist in our culture: Biblically-Deprived, Biblically-Influenced, & Biblically-Driven.
I will address the Biblically-Deprived church in this post. Tomorrow I will discuss the Biblically-Influenced church. And finally I’ll address the Biblically-Driven Church and offer some summary statements and encouragement.
BIBLICALLY-DEPRIVED churches
Description
- The Word is absent. When you attend this church, the Scriptures are noticeably not present. Members don’t take their Bibles to church. Leaders don’t read the Scriptures during the service. The pastor doesn’t teach or preach from the Scriptures. The Word is essentially absent.
- The Word has no authority. As far as you can tell, the Bible has no authoritative position in the church. It may be referenced a few times. It may even be quoted if the circumstance seems to be fitting. But it is quite obvious to the casual observer that the Bible is not authoritative in this place.
- The meaning of the Word is irrelevant. The Bible has been around a long time. And for the most part, it is a special book that carries a lot of sentimentality with it. So the church keeps it around for those reasons. But as far as studying it to gain an understanding of what God has said, and what He meant by what He has said, forget about it. That’s not relevant to our church’s life.
- The pastor is a psychologist. Instead of being a preacher of God’s Word, a teacher of the Holy Scriptures, or a Biblical counselor, the pastor is more-or-less a psychologist who tries to understand how you feel, what you fear, and what you want. Then he shapes his ministry based on his evaluation of your feelings, fears, and desires.
- The Word is irrelevant to my life. ‘Since my church basically believes the Bible is irrelevant, so do I. I don’t read it. I don’t study it. I don’t meditate on its contents. And I don’t seek to apply it each day. The Bible is irrelevant to me.’
- Relationships trump the Word. Members go to church for the relationships with friends and neighbors. They like being connected to other people. Plus, some of the services really touch the hearts of people. The presence or absence of the Bible is a non-factor to most of the people there.
- The Gospel is redefined. Instead of understanding the Gospel as the good news of salvation through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ, the Gospel is redefined to be any good work that encourages or helps other people in their lives and put them on a path toward God.
- God exists for ME. Though most Biblically-deprived churches would not say it in those exact terms (God exists for me), they have taken the Biblical principle in 1 Corinthians 10:31 and reversed its message, “Hey God, whatever you do, do it all for my benefit, for my enjoyment, for my success.” A church that devalues the Scriptures naturally devalues God. And whenever you decrease the value of God, you increase the value of yourself.
Critique
A Biblically-Deprived church…
- Ignores the nature of Scripture (2 Tim. 3:15-17).
- Ignores the commands of Scripture (2 Tim. 4:1-5; Titus 2:1).
- Ignores the responsibilities of the church (2 Timothy 1:13).
- Ignores the responsibilities of church leaders (1 Timothy 3:2).
- Ignores the mission of God (Matt. 28:18-20).
Dangers/Effects
A Biblically-Deprived church…
- Leaves people with damning, worldly wisdom instead of saving godly wisdom.
- Reinforces idolatry and the worship of man rather than worship of the one true God.
This kind of church has an appearance of spirituality, a collection of nice people, and a desire to do good things in the community. But it stands in opposition to the glory of God and His redemptive plan due to its complete neglect of His written revelation.
by Ryan Limbaugh