Relevant irrelevance

I recently read some statistics from Josh McDowell's book, The New Tolerance, that concerned me. He cites a study done that shows that:

* 57% of churched youth do not believe that an objective standard of truth exists.
* 53% of those who identify themselves as conservative Christians do not believe in absolute
truth.
* 84% of first year Christian college students cannot defend or explain their beliefs.
* 66% of those who say it is important to follow the teachings of the Bible reject moral absolutes.

Of course all Bible truth hinges on the doctrine of Divine Inspiration of Scripture. Everyone who believes in the Divine Inspiration of Scripture must then believe that the Bible is inherently and infallible (true and without error). Therefore if Christians believe this, then they must believe that the Bible is absolute truth.

Here lies the problem: If "conservative Christian" adults and "churched youth" don't believe in absolute truth, then they are in fact rejecting the very Bible and the very God they claim to believe in. Ever wonder why Christianity and so many Christians seem so weak in America?

This leads to the next question: Why would so many Christians embrace this false view and why would 84% of first year Christian college students not be able to defend their faith?

These facts present incriminating evidence that the church is not teaching Bible doctrine like it should. Why is that? The answer is simple. Many churches have a new boss. His name? Relevance. In many cases today, churches and ministers are so concerned about bowing at the altar of being relevant, that sound Biblical doctrine is being tossed aside. The new paradigm is preaching that which attracts the crowd by meeting the "felt needs" of the audience in order to build the crowd. While this may lead to happy group therapy sessions on Sunday morning, this has wreaked havoc on the Body of Christ - leading to Christians who neither know the Word of God nor solid Bible doctrines that will keep them living for God in tough times. They can, however, give you a scripture from the Message Bible about how God wants you to have a Coke and a smile while getting a pay raise at work. (The sarcasm font was on during that last sentence.)

Most "felt needs" preachers would agree with me in principle concerning lifting up Bible doctrines, but would add something like, "We merely preach a timeless message with modern methods." Apparently for 84% of our college students the "timeless message" is being lost in the "modern methods". One could even argue that if Jesus was concerned about being relevant to the culture He came to 2,000 years ago He would have come as a King on a throne or a high powered religious leader. Instead His truth and His reality that liberates sinners makes Him relevant - no side shows needed.

Truth, in and of itself, is relevant and doesn't need to be excused or apologized for - just upheld, proclaimed and declared without the "bait and switch" methods reminiscent of parents trying to sneak the healthy vegetables onto their child's dinner plate. Jesus said that knowing truth would set us free. God's truth, therefore, must be our primary objective.

If knowing God's Word and Bible doctrine isn't a value among Christians today, then the onus is on the person standing behind the pulpit to teach it's value. In the effort to be relevant, many in the church growth movement are actually becoming irrelevant - How ironic.