Are We “Dumbing Down” The Lord's Church?
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin ArticlesThere’s no question in this writer’s mind that our present-day secular educational system is being “dumbed down” by secular humanists in our schools. My question is, are we “dumbing down” our young people in the Lord’s church, and as a result, “dumbing down” the Lord’s church?
Brother Wayne Jackson has written an article entitled, “Is the Church a Reed or a Pillar?” in which he compares the Lord’s church of today (21st century) with the 20th century church.
Brother Jackson writes regarding the spiritual strength of the church in the 20th century:
“In the early portion of the last century, the Lord’s church was the fastest growing body in America. A typical example of the influence of the church was seen in the Tabernacle Meetings conducted by N. B. Hardeman in the early 1920s. When the first meeting was held in March-April of 1922, the old Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee was “packed and jammed” with six to eight thousand people, with an estimated two to three thousand being turned away (Hardeman 1922, 11). And there was no compromise of doctrine in Hardeman’s sermons! Those were glorious days for the kingdom of Christ.
But in the early decades of the previous century, something else was happening. A movement known as modernism was evolving; it reflected an inclination to reject the concept of propositional truth based upon divine authority. Men like Presbyterian clergyman Harry E. Fosdick (1878-1969) argued that the Bible had developed along evolutionary lines, and they rejected the supernatural elements of Scripture.“
Another philosophy that has infiltrated the Lord’s church in recent years, is the philosophy of postmodernism which says that there is no such thing as real objective knowledge — that an individual can’t know anything for certain. Out of this godless philosophy, has come the ideology of the “Emerging Church” movement, which promotes the godless philosophy that truth is relative rather than absolute.
Brethren, in the last 60 years, I’ve personally seen the Lord’s church deteriorate from its members being called “walking Bibles” to its members possessing very little Bible knowledge at all. In my view, we are definitely “dumbing down” our young people by entertaining them to death instead of teaching and instilling in them a desire to know God’s word and the spiritual principles contained therein (Psalm 1:1-2; Psalm 119:97).
What’s the solution to the spiritual deterioration that we see in the Lord’s church today?
By example, faithful parents, grandparents, elders and preachers in the Lord’s church need to open the Book to our young people — getting back to simple Bible teaching as we witnessed in the 20th century. Only then will our children and grandchildren receive the spiritual instruction needed to survive in a crooked and ungodly environment (Deuteronomy 6:1-15; Deuteronomy 11:18-21; Psalm 78:1-8).
Let’s think about it! And then take any necessary action.
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