To continue yesterday’s discussion about churches generally not doing a good job teaching skills like How to Have Daily Time with God, here’s another story:

A friend of ours, in her 80s, was talking with June about a new experience she was having. Our friend is politically liberal, and, as nearly as we could tell, theologically nowhere. She and her husband hadn’t participated in church much until they retired and moved to a Colorado mountain town. There, they were going to a church in which they could discuss, as nearly as I could tell, their political causes.

So June was shocked when she said something like this: “We’re not going to church anymore, but we are participating in a discussion group that meets at 7am. We’re reading the Bible and sharing what we’re hearing from God. Have you ever heard of ‘Lectio Divina?’” (Lectio Divina, Latin for “Divine Light” is, at its simplest, a way of reading the Bible to listen for God to speak.)

Then our friend said, “The church has failed us.”

By which she meant, I’m over 80 years old, and I’m just learning how to read the Bible in a meaningful way.

Bill Hybels, pastor of Willow Creek Church, said much the same thing in an oft-misunderstood quote back in 2008:

We made a mistake… What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and became Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become self feeders. We should have gotten people (and) taught people how to read their Bible between services (and) how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.”

Bill discovered that Willow Creek Church, for all the good it was doing, hadn’t been teaching folks to read the Bible for themselves, and in that omission the church was failing its members. It was failing to make disciples. I’m afraid most churches and pastors fall into that trap. Churches have replaced training the people to be in the Word for themselves with never-ending spoon-feeding.

The Apostle John wrote:

I am writing to you,

• little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. I am writing to you,
• fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you,
• young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you,
• children, because you know the Father. I write to you,
• fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you,
• young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. (1 John 2.12 – 14, ESV)

“Little children” need someone to feed them. “Young adults” feed themselves. “Parents” feed others. There should be a progression, not, as I say, never-ending spoon-feeding.

About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. (Hebrews 5.11, 12, ESV)

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. (2 Timothy 2.1, 2, NIV)

Portions of this blog are adapted from my blog “The Church Has Failed Us,” January 28, 2018