But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”                        Luke 11:28 (NKJV)

• There was plenty of socializing but not so much joy.
• There was biblical preaching, but sparse fruit.
• There were Bible studies but little love for one another.

These things can be observed in a lot of “churches” these days. You may enter and see a lot of interpersonal interaction. People genuinely delighted to see each other and worship together.

Looking closer though, one can see that it is a Sunday morning event. The preaching and teaching do not lead to much action.

Praise God He has a remnant everywhere and there are solid believers in most churches. Part of the reason we see so many people coming and going from churches is that people look for what they want to hear. Some want more, some want less.

How many of us are truly willing to be challenged by teaching from the Word of God every week? Do we take it home and try to live what we have learned? Are we serious about our faith or do we just want it to look good at church?

People actually say things like, “They use too much Bible here.” Or, “God is taken too seriously.” Can we take God too seriously or hear too much of His Word?

The lack of sound doctrinal  teaching in Christian churches has led to the greatest kind of faithlessness. People are so vague on what the Bible says about God and who He is and even what He expects from His people, that they say things like, “I like to think of God as all loving.”

Any statement about God that starts with “I like to think of God as…” is a problem. We are clearly told that our hearts are deceitful and wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). What we “think,” unless it is fully informed by what God says, is meaningless. It will, in fact, lead others (who know less than we do) away from God.

Our image of God needs to start with what the scriptures teach about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. A full picture of God takes more than a quick reading of 1 John 4:8 which clearly states that God is love. How to live that love out requires a much bigger understanding of the scripture.

After a few weeks of attendance at the church described in the bullet points above, the problem became obvious; there was no hunger for the Word of God. There was no true desire to know God. At the root of that seemed to be a spirit of pride (“I like to think of God as…” is a description of making God up to be what we want, ignoring the scriptures.)

The challenge before all who claim Christ is to know Christ, through the power of His Spirit in us, by knowing what God’s Word says.

• Are we taking time to read the Bible and study it on our own?
• Are we “hearing” the sermons, not just sitting in a pew?
• Will we not be hearers only, but doers of the Word?
• When will we take the time to begin a study that leads to action (James 2:26)?