The man caught me after a screening of our documentary film, When God Left the Building. He wanted to talk about the “real reason” the American church is struggling.
“Don’t you think the main problem is biblical illiteracy?” he asked. “Nobody knows what’s in the Bible anymore.”
His concern is a common one. It’s caused some churches to respond with a very intentional Bible-centric ministry. Some churches have used “Bible” in their names and in their taglines. “A Bible-believing church.” “We’re a Bible-based church.” “Where you’ll hear the Bible preached.”
While I would agree that, in our culture, Bible knowledge seems to be thin and getting thinner, I don’t believe this is the root of the problem. It’s something far more basic.
It’s not so much that people aren’t centering their lives around the Bible. It’s that too many aren’t centering their lives around Jesus.
Yes, I know the Bible contains the literary account of Jesus. But I’m afraid, because of how some have promoted their ministries, that the culture has been given the impression that the church’s mission is the promotion of biblical scholarship. It seems the Bible has been elevated above its author.
This loss of proper perspective plagued the landscape 2,000 years ago as well. Jesus did not make his physical appearance on Earth because people were delinquent in their study of the scriptures. In fact, many were quite learned in the written Word, but failed to center their lives around the one true God. The “Word became flesh” so that the people would come to know, love and follow the living God, and be redeemed through the sacrificial love of the Savior.
Please don’t get me wrong. I cherish the Bible. I read and ingest the Bible daily. I encourage others to read the Bible. And the organization I lead, Group, publishes Bibles. In fact, we just released our latest specialty Bible. But we realize the end game is not for readers to center their lives around this book. Our aim is for people to center their lives around Jesus. That’s why this new Bible is called the Jesus-Centered Bible.
The Jesus-Centered Bible is uniquely designed to draw the reader into a thriving, real relationship with Jesus Christ. From cover to cover the text and additional features point to Jesus–even in the Old Testament. Passages throughout the Old Testament that connect to Jesus appear in blue letters, with special explanations. 
This edition’s general editor, Rick Lawrence, quotes 19th-Century British pastor C.H. Spurgeon, who cautioned a young pastor who had just preached a sermon on an Old Testament text. “That was a poor sermon,” he said. “There was no Christ in it. Don’t you know that from every town, and every village, and every little hamlet in England, wherever it may be, there is a road to London? And so from every text in Scripture there is a road to the metropolis of the Scriptures, that is Christ.”
Lawrence added, “The story of God, contained in these pages, revolves around a Person, not a set of principles. The closer we get to Jesus, the more we discover our true identity and purpose in life.”
That center has a lot of gravitational pull.
I don’t know about this because when I pray, I’ve been tending to talk to all three persons of God. When your Jesus centered, you feel the need to talk to Jesus but Jesus said to pray to the Father. He never told the disciples to pray to Him.
For a while I was praying to Jesus till someone pointed out the Lords prayer so then I went back to praying to Father God. Over time, understanding how it is the Holy Spirit, in me, helping me throughout my day, I actually include talking to the Holy Spirit for help with myself from the inside when it comes to Jesus command of loving one another.
Maybe it seems odd but I do include talking to all three persons of God. So as far as what a church needs to be. I would say God centered as all three Persons, equal, have Their specific functions.
I would say for young Christians, that would be confusing and focus needs to be on one Person of God at a time. Even with myself as an old Christian, the three being one is not easy to work, live and deal with. God is not easy to explain.
Yes, Ryan, I have come to the same conclusion myself. In my almost 28 years as a believer, I have, for the most part, ignored the Holy Spirit. Not so anymore. And what a difference it makes in my walk with God.
Amen and Amen and Amen.
I agree with you Thom. I graduated from a seminary that had bible teaching as its main emphasis. There was no thought that this could lead to a worship of the wrong thing–the Bible, yet it does.
I would add a thought, though, to the Jesus-centered thinking, and that’s this:
We have forsaken the concept of an experiential Christianity in most of the evangelical churches with which I’m acquainted. I was traveling through my ROKU’s list of churches last Sunday, and I sampled several. What I got was “moral instruction.” Now there is nothing wrong with that. Paul talked a lot about it. However, that is by far the emphasis of our churches, but it leaves out the experiential worship of God. We can see this easily if we look to the Psalms, and find in them the experiences of the believers of old, with all their joys and sufferings. “Laws” are popular, because they are easy to discuss. After all, if you obey a command, it’s quantifiable. You didn’t steal. You didn’t covet. You didn’t bear false witness. Experiencing God is not quantifiable, not testable, except to the person doing the experiencing. I think your new Bible is a wonderful tool, because knowing Jesus Christ is at its root a subjective experience, which is one reason Christians get criticized so much–they’ve “had an experience,” which supposedly makes their beliefs invalid because they are based on a subjective reality. I am working on knowing God in a more than theological sense these days, and I believe that it’s something He wants for all of us–to know Him, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom He sent (sounds strangely Biblical…). Since God is known through His Son, and by the ministry of the Spirit, this connects us to Him in the Bible in a wonderful way. What you are doing is immensely important–we must talk about Him, not about “Calvinism” or “Dispensationalism” or “The Rapture;” These are important topics, but they pale in value to the ministry of the Spirit in one’s heart. The Bible is meant to lead us to God and His Son Jesus Christ, not to itself. Only the ministry of the Spirit can prevent that inevitable quantifying of the Christian life (as happened to the Pharisees over time), which results in “rules” replacing the Father in our thoughts and prayers. I know this rambles, but I hope all who read it will be gracious…
I do understand what is trying to be communicated here and agree. Supplanting Bible knowledge for a dynamic faith is idolatry. However, in the marketplace of today this line of thought is used not to bring people into a deeper faith but to allow them to pick and choose what they wish to accept as from God. This allows for us to then glorify our understanding of who Jesus is by emphasizing the understanding that we may have that is not based upon what the Bible through the Holy Spirit reveals but rather based upon our own presuppositions of him. this generally has tended to a cartoonish picture of a nice, healer/ teacher who just went around feeding and healing and was martyred by the religious people of his day. Knowledge of the Bible the whole of Scripture and not just favorite portions is needed.
Interesting thought on the study Bible, I enjoyed a study years ago of Jesus in the OT, looking forward to perusing the book.
Humans can relate to what they see. They see the Bible – they do not see Jesus. But we have to remember that our knowledge of Jesus comes from the Bible. We are not a part of “Bibleanity”, but Christianity. Our spirit is connected to Jesus, spiritually, who is our life.
Also Thom, I like your selection of topics to talk about!
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Mt 22:40. The problem is non Jesus centered bible study causing a lack of bible literacy. Matthew 22:40, imho, states that interpretation of verses must, either immediately or eventually, get back to the two greatest commandments, love God and love your neighbor. Getting these commands right is of paramount importance. Love and neighbor are clearly defined by Jesus, we have no liberty to add our own definitions.
Here is is the Bible plan I want implemented.
1. Matt 22:34-40. Since it all hangs on this, then it is a good starting point. As stated there are several verses about the love Jesus is commanding. This lesson also must include the Luke version of the greatest commandments and a complete understanding of the good samaritian and how Jesus defined neighbor. Love your enemies and what you do for the least should be included.
2. John 14 and 15. These chapters clearly define his claim about himself, reaction to the father and relationship with you. Lots of abiding, lots of ifs too. Once we understand he is the way and loving him is obeying him, we are ready to move on. Side note. I find John 14 to be very inclusive not exclusive. Because some use it to exclude themselves from others, pull away, act self-righteous and fail to love their neighbors does not make the chapter exclusive. Fact is we excluded ourselves from the kingdom of God and he is providing a way to include us again.
3 Since loving is obeying, go to the five teaching portions of Matthew.
4. From there, I would recommend James, 1 John and 2 Peter before moving to Paul. Paul will make more sense that way.
Paul abuse is the biggest problem. Ephesians chapter 2 does not end at verse 9 as many pastors would lead you to believe. Paul’s basic message was was you are saved by grace, therefore act like it. The therefore act like it verses are rarely preached. The summary verses are preached with each pastor adding his own pharisee-like social commentary that sells best to his crowd. Paul’s commentary is left out. Paul reads more like James when you realize they are preaching the same thing at two opposite problems.
Also, the letters are the incomplete word of God. A letter is completed by the one it is written to. If you have multiple children and are writing each a letter on how they need to improve to be more successful and you have to be very concise considering you are writing on papyrus, you would focus on certain things for each. If reading them separately 2000 years later, they might seem to be conflicting advice. They are not, the weakness in the letter is completed by the different strengths each child has.
John 5:39
“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!
And isn’t that the point of Bible study?
The Scriptures point to Christ, so studying the Bible leads to Christ. Without studying the Word (which in my opinion is an instruction manual of how to have a relationship with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit; the roadmap if you will, of finding your way to Christ) you do not find Christ.
Too many times we have “Bible Study” which is no more than a 6 week study of the latest book by some Christian author that entails no “Bible” study whatsoever. How much better would the world be if we studied our Bibles instead.
One cannot center their life upon Jesus the Anointed One unless they first have been “diligent to present yourself approved of God, an unashamed worker, handling correctly the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15)
Hebrews says that Jesus is the “express image” of the Godhead. Worshipping him is not worshipping a lesser being than God the Father, or God the Spirit. We also know that the Spirit is the one who carries, interprets, our prayers and groanings. The Tri
nity is not 3 separate gods; it is one Godhead, and any worship or prayers by a person who has been saved goes through all three of the Godhead.
Problem is lack of Bible knowledge means less Jesus centered. We are to test what we are told, not be total skeptics, but test. That is hard to do if no one has their Bible’s open. The context test is real difficult to apply. How much me, myself and I are in an explanation is another test.
Either way evangelical pastors are putting verses on screen, and discouraging members from their actual Bibles as catholic priests do. Pastors are not perfect but the congregation lacks the ability to call them into account when needed.
The Bible helps connect me with the living, resurrected Jesus!
Christian means Christ follower. One who commits the rest of their life to follow Jesus.
We need to understand the Bible through the lens of Jesus. Jesus is the King of the Kingdom that is not of this world. We are to be ambassadors of that kingdom to the earthly kingdoms of this world.