The Crisis Facing the Australian Church
Tuesday, 18 May 2010
| Kylie Butler
If the current trends of biblical disengagement continue, within the next 30 years the Bible will be ‘a thing of the past’ for most people who claim to follow Jesus.
A recent poll in the US indicates that 35% of born-again Christians do not read the Bible at all, and of those that indicate they do the vast majority only read it during the one hour they attend church each week. Admittedly these statistics are from the US, as currently there are not any statistics in Australia for this, but we only need to look at our own church community to see that this would be similar (if not worse) in Australia.
Most Christians do not engage (read or hear) from God through the Bible on a daily basis or even regularly because it simply is not important to us. The Bible is seen as ‘one of many ways’, all equally important, that God speaks to Christians. Therefore reading the Bible is not considered important for our spiritual growth. For many Christians, telling God about our personal needs is more important than hearing from Him.
If we think about our own church context, can we resonate with these statements?
- Some pastors and church leaders only read the Bible when they are preparing a sermon or study and occasionally for personal retreat.
- The Bible is being used to support preaching themes rather than the whole bible story being preached
- Faster communication and a consumerist society encourage quick results and instant satisfaction instead of a life-journey with God
- Leaders measure how often a person attends church rather than how often they engage God through the Word. Which is a better indicator of the state of a person’s spiritual life?
- Having multiple bibles in the home doesn’t help bible engagement and bible-reading guides have little long-term effect.
- There is disparity between a person’s expressed belief about the importance of the Bible and their actual reading habits.
- People aren’t reading as much overall so find it difficult to read the Bible with its large amounts of text
- Increased busyness means bible reading becomes a lower priority
- People find the Bible difficult to understand. Its context, different books, multiple writers and types of writing all confuse people trying to read it.
Kylie Butler is from Milk to Meat, an initiative committed to bible engagement. Milk to Meat is currently conducting a National Survey on Bible Reading and Engagement. This survey will help us all gain a better insight into how Australian Christians read the Bible, and will contribute to strategies for inspiring a generation to engage with the Word of God. Every completed survey also gives you a chance to WIN iTunes vouchers and other discount book vouchers. Please go to www.milktomeat.com.au, complete the survey and encourage your network to also complete it.