Preaching Half Truths of Christianity
I have been a Christian since 1982, I am 51 years old. It was not until
about 15 to 25 years ago that Christianity began to be taken seriously as
a legitimate theistic belief system. There are two groups of people who
oppose philosophical and any strong academic understanding of the bible
to be legitimate and or valid. Atheists obviously do not and continue to
not view Christianity as legitimate or valid which does not surprise me,
but what does surprise me is the there are some in the Christian
community who opposes anything that does not relate to a salvific
ideology. In other words, some Christians, meaning, pastors, Sunday
school teachers, and bible teacher’s focus on “winning” people to Christ,
or do not think that academic or scholarly study of the scriptures is a valid
notion to leading people to Christ. First off, no one “wins” people to Christ,
it is the Holy Spirit that leads people to Christ. So, we can see right from
the get-go, that those who adhere to that mindset lack theological and
doctrinal understanding of how the Holy Spirit intercedes the calling from
God. I believe that “Ministering the Word of God to the people of God is
the pastor’s lifeblood.” (Vanhoozer and Strachan 2015, 2).
I currently teach apologetics in my town of Maryville TN as a chapter
director for reasonable faith ministries and one of the heart-breaking
discussions is the fact that pastors simply do not want any thing to do
with philosophical studies or any discipline of apologetics as part of their
church’s ministry. In one sense I can understand if it seems intimidating
and too much reading but on the other hand, that is what God has
mandated for us to do in order to be part of Christ’s ministries. Clearly, we
see the results of no teaching of the deeper things of God. Many ignorant
Christians have been struggling in their faith, their relationship with God
and also with their worldview of Christianity as a whole. Why? Because
those in leadership in their church’s do not lead and teach true
Christianity, only half truths of Christianity. I love this statement which
truly nails the point straight to the heart of pastoral ministry. “Let me say
it bluntly; Preachers who spend their sermon time on telling cute
anecdotes or reviewing the news or commenting on the World Series are
guilty of pastoral malpractice. You are commissioned by the Lord Jesus to
be the minister of the Word. So minister it.” (Wilson and Hiestand 2016,
19). Wells said.
