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Church: UK Mission

Ben Witherington: Biblical Illiteracy in the West

Sorry, I’m not being original again, but I thought that this piece by Ben was far too good not to link to.

Well of course part of the problem is the very nature of the modern and western church. It is all too often narcissistic and self-serving to the core. It spends the vast majority of its budget on itself– its own buildings, its own clergy, its own self-help and nurture programs. The church has ceased almost altogether to be what it was at its inception– an evangelistic movement, that also did some nurture and training of converts. Instead we are nurture institutions that might have a missions committee. Talk about placing the emphasis on the wrong syllable as the culture becomes increasing less Biblical.

Reading the book of Acts together with reading the budget reports of most churches today is an exercise bound to cause depression. The “me” culture of the West, bent on radical individualism has been endorsed, even co-opted and taken over and baptized by the church. Rather than countering the narcissism of the culture, we cater to it, with all sorts of ‘needs’ based preaching and teaching that is long on ‘how to’s’ and very thin on Biblical substance. But frankly ‘how to’ doesn’t help if you don’t first know ‘what for’ or even ‘why bother’.