A team member at Church Answers recently urged me to contact a pastor in the Midwest who was brimming with enthusiasm. After four years of division and decline, his church had successfully turned around. He claimed to have discovered the secret behind this remarkable comeback, a comment that immediately piqued my curiosity and prompted me to make the call.
The secret I discovered was less of a mystery and more of a neglected reality: a profound lack of biblical understanding. Because leaders are often consumed by the daily activities, programs, and ministries of their congregations, this major hidden issue frequently goes unnoticed until it begins to erode the foundation of the church.
When a congregation becomes overly focused on internal programming, it is easy to overlook what many Americans miss about the gospel. This disconnect often reveals a significant correlation between cultural ethnicity and biblical literacy, a factor that must be addressed for sustained spiritual health.
Stated simply, many church members do not understand the basic truths of the Christian faith.
That is the hidden factor. That is the reason behind many churches’ struggles.
That single call was a major factor behind why I wrote a book called I Believe. We cannot function well or at all as members of the body of Christ unless we know what we believe and why we believe. Look at these five major implications of belief.
- Without a clear understanding of our beliefs, we might stray to false beliefs. The pastor who called me told me that a church survey revealed that over half his congregation did not believe that Christ was the only way of salvation. They did not affirm John 14:6: “Jesus told him, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.’”
- Church members will not be motivated to reach others with the gospel if they don’t understand the basics of the Christian faith. Why should they share the gospel of Christ if he is not the only way of salvation?
- Church members will seek to serve themselves if they do not embrace biblical truths. The Apostle Paul said with potent clarity in Philippians 1:2: “Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too” (NLT).
- Ministry volunteers will be sparse without a biblical understanding of church membership. If your church members truly understand and embrace 1 Corinthians 12, they will eagerly serve in ministries in the church. They must believe with conviction what it means to be a part of the body of Christ.
- Church members will not have an attitude of gratitude without understanding and affirming the joy that can only be found in Christ. Paul again reminds us. “Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4).
The pastor began leading his church to understand the basic beliefs of the Christian faith. Over a few months, many church members began making substantive changes in their lives for the better. The church became more joyous. The church became more serving. The church became more evangelistic. Many members of the church experienced a profound and positive change in their attitudes.
The change in the church really was neither a secret nor a hidden factor. At least it was not hidden once the church members understood the beliefs of the Christian faith and responded obediently to them.
“Now,” he told me, “when my church members say, ‘I believe,’ they are not only affirming what they learned intellectually. They are affirming that those beliefs have changed their lives.”