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Dumbing Down Religion -- Hosea 4.6-9 Introduction: "Dumbing down" is an expression used almost exclusively with education. The deliberate and intentional effort to reduce standards of achievement. In other words --- make it easier for the students. don't ask them to meet the challenge of learning, simply minimize the standards. It assumes the bar has been too high so let's lower the bar. "Dumbing down" is contingent on an argument that says the kids can't handle the "higher bar" so we have to lower the bar. The hoped for result is increase grade averages. However, here is the real curiosity, grade averages have not raised as supposed. They have either remained the same, or decreased. There is also the tendency to "dumb down" religion. I) Problem A) Book, chapter, and verse preaching is disdained 1. People want motivational type preaching. 2. Smoothness of pop psychological. 3. Gospel Messages in "sound bites" a. Accept Jesus as your personal Savior b. Don't worry about commandments just have love. c. It is not what you know but who you know. etc. B) Translations that are "easier to read' 1. The "backing away" from essentially literal translations. 2. The eagerness for "dynamic equivalence" translations. Where the translator does not actually tell us what the original said but tells us what he thinks it means. NLT example: 3, Leland Ryken, in his book The Word of God in English, wrote on page 91, "To put it bluntly, what good is readability if a translation does not accurately render what the Bible actually says." C) Blurring of standards 1. Lack of teaching -- hard, controversial, mundane 2. Lack of learning -- cannot learn what is not taught 3. Lack of application-- cannot apply what you have not learned II) Symptoms/Results A) Continued weakness among Christians (Spiritually weak Christians) 1. The Bible mentions weakness, Romans 14.1 2. This is not to be permanent (ok to be weak as a newborn Christian but not as a 30 year old veteran). 3. There is no safety is continued weakness. I can't do this or that. B) Willingness to accept mediocrity, Matthew 12.30 1. Tacit acceptance of occasional attendance-- prayer, Bible Study, etc 2. A refusal to make a decision. C) Compartmentalization, James 4.17 1. In regards to commands -- Matthew 22.38-40 Greatest commandment? 2. In regard to worship -- most important? III) Solution A) Preach the word, 2 Timothy4.2-4 1. All three aspects of preaching the word, reproving (convincing0, rebuking and exhorting must be based on doctrine (teaching). a. Exhorting a congregation to be "more like Christ" is fine as long as they know what Christ was like as revealed in the Bible. b. Exhorting folks to do more work for the Lord is fine if they have been taught from the scriptures what the Lord's work is. c. Exhorting people to love the Lord and one another is great if they have been taught the nature of Biblical love. 2. A failure to have a Scriptural foundation for what we do is prescription for disaster. a. Paul refers to zeal without knowledge, Romans 10.1-2 b. Zeal without knowledge is like a souped up car without a steering wheel. B) We ought to never feel comfortable in our weakness. 1. The Hebrew writer rebukes this, Hebrews 5.12-14 2. Peter encourages growth, not weakness, 1 Peter 2.2; 2 Peter 3.18 3. Are we doing what we can to be stronger, 2 Peter 1.10 C) We are not to settle for mediocrity 1. We should desire excellence, Phil. 1.10 2. We to strive for maturity, Phil. 3.13-16 3. Mediocrity is ruled out, Ephesians 5.27 D) We are to do all, not some, of what God says 1. The manifestation of love, John 14.15 2. He said all of them, Matthew 28.20 3. The wise man does them, Matthew 7.24 4. We are not supposed to pick and choose, Matthew 23.23 Conclusion: Are you doing all you can to please the Lord? A dumbed down religion will not help you to do that, it will actually prevent you from doing that. If you are a Christian, be all that you can be and do all that you can do. If you are not a Christian, then take matters into your own hands and obey the Gospel today! (Adapted from a sermon by Terry Sanders)
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