We live in a lite society—one that offers all of the gusto with only a fraction of the calories. Of course, the lite craze is not restricted to beer. Almost everything comes in a lite version these days, from low cal mayonnaise to a cheaper rendition of a computer program. The underlying theory is that you can get the same result in flavor, productivity, or whatever, while paying a lower price in calorie intake, dollars, or some other commodity. For a lower cost you can get just as much benefit.
Though we don’t express it specifically in these terms, this is the contemporary evangelical attitude toward the Bible. Our Christian life can be just as strong without paying the price of all that laborious Bible study. Five minutes with Our Daily Bread and we are good to go. This is not to speak disparagingly of Our Daily Bread. This publication has had a great ministry. The problem is with contemporary evangelicals who have problems distinguishing between a snack and a meal. Nor are Our Daily Bread and similar publications the only popular evangelical snack foods. Christian bookstores are full of low nutrient substitutes for a solid biblical diet.
One Bible substitute frequently used by evangelicals is found in a study of books about the Bible in place of a study of the Bible itself. When people tell me about their Bible study, I find myself asking what book they are going through. Expecting an answer such as Philippians or Romans, I still haven’t gotten used to answers such as, “We are going through Chuck Swindoll’s, Hand Me another Brick.” Somehow it seems that a Bible study should be a study of the Bible, rather than a study of a book that talks about the Bible. Again, I’m not being critical of good Christian books. They can have a great ministry. I just become concerned when we allow them to replace the study of Scripture itself.
We find the same lite approach to Scripture from most pulpits these days. It is very difficult to find a church that offers expository preaching. There is substantial indication that churches that do offer expository preaching reflect serious decline in attendance. Therefore, this trend may be driven by the appetite of the person in the pew. What does seem to draw a crowd these days is needs-based sermons, which inform congregations about what God can do for them today. Such sermons usually include some Scripture, but this constitutes a lite treatment that does not help the congregation to develop an in-depth understanding of the Bible.
Sunday schools also have developed inclinations away from Scripture and more toward topics such as how to have a better marriage or how to be a better parent. This can represent a worthwhile endeavor as long as we are getting substantive biblical input elsewhere. Unfortunately, it seems that for most evangelicals this is not the case.
We find, then, a lack of serious study of Scripture in individual Bible study, group Bible study, and Bible study within the church. That pretty much covers the gamut. The problem with this trend is that Bible-lite produces evangelical-lite. As suggested earlier, one reason for this outcome is that in God’s design we require a diet of substantial spiritual nutrients. Deprived of those, malnutrition sets in producing weakness and other negative symptoms.
One of the most significant negative byproducts of a lack of in-depth study of Scripture is a diminished capacity for discernment. Scripture is challenging to understand, and applying Scripture to practical issues of life can be very difficult. Consequently, doing so effectively requires a well-developed working knowledge of Scripture.
Perhaps the area where this lack of in-depth knowledge of Scripture and the consequent lack of discernment is most visible and damaging is related to the readiness of evangelicals to embrace patently unscriptural psychological concepts, often without serious scrutiny. In future postings we will mention some of these and demonstrate just how obviously unscriptural they are. The unscriptural nature of these psychological concepts would be evident to believers well-nurtured in Scripture. The ready and uncritical adoption of these ideas reveals the depletion of the immune system of those nourished by a diet of Bible-lite, which allows the invasion, undetected, of harmful viruses. Consequently, an evangelical reformation requires a trend toward an in-depth intake of scriptural nutrients that will produce strong and discerning believers.