Are we illiterate? by Trevor Morrow

Archbishop Dairmuid Martin, speaking to Bishops in Rome, described the scriptures in Ireland as “unexplored, almost alien territory”. 62% of Irish young people do not know how many gospels there are, 52% do not know the first book of the Bible and 95% don’t know the first of the 10 commandments. These were some of the findings of the Lansdowne Market Research survey conducted for the Iona Institute and the Evangelical Alliance Ireland in 2007.

In America 10% of adults polled in a similar survey believed that Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife and a staggering 82% thought “God helps those who help themselves” was a text from the Bible.

These statistics underline what most of us know intuitively, that Biblical illiteracy is at crisis level. The consequences for our culture are serious. In literature, Milton’s “Paradise Lost” or Dickens’ “A tale of two cities” cannot be understood without an appreciation of the Bible. In the Arts, Michelangelo’s “David” and Handel’s “Messiah” become meaningless.

However it is within the church that Biblical ignorance is frightening. At public worship, we give the page number before mentioning the book or the chapter and verses. Sadly this is necessary for members as well as new believers and seekers.

If the purpose of the scriptures is to bear witness to Jesus Christ, then the moral and spiritual implications of such illiteracy are dire.

Don Carson, the Canadian New Testament scholar notes that ‘earlier generations met the needs of illiterate believers with liturgy steeped in scripture, lectionary cycles, festivals designed to repeat the great narratives that stand at the turning points in redemptive history… Today even our few remaining festivals, our church-sponsored Christmas and Easter pageants, often have more to do with space raiders or being nice at school that they do with Biblical history.”

There is no quick fix solution.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION…
What is the consequence for Ireland if people inside the church do not know the Bible? How does a lack of biblical understanding affect society? Why are people not reading the Bible? What would be contemporary equivalents of traditional liturgy and festivals that were designed to help illiterate members of the congregation?

Add your comments below.

Decentralisation by Glenda Chop

Work the day, a long commute
Take-away instead of fruit
Tesco rush, put on the pot
Lidl needs a drive-through slot.
Visit Auntie, cat to vet
Dentist calling, baby’s wet
Pay the lecky, homework due
Neighbour lonely, tea to do
Mammy needs the garden done
Saturday a wedding’s on
Why I am a rotten Christian,
Never time for Jesus’ mission?

This poem describes life for just about everyone I know. We go through life at a blistering pace between work, home and family responsibilities. We collapse exhausted at the end of a day or week and take solace from our Christian guilt in whatever little pleasures our consciences allow. All the while, we wonder if we’ll ever have the time or motivation to do real ministry.

So here’s some good news…..God has made our lives to revolve around work, home and family! It is more important and is potentially more fruitful than anything else we do.

Our faith is meant to be real in the context of normal life. That is where it comes alive - in serving and loving those God has placed around us.

Instead, the church tends to create an alternative to reality disconnected from normal life. Sincere believers suffer from the angst of trying to live between two worlds: the world of church ministry and the world of living life.

Of course, we are ‘not of this world’. But that simply means that our centre, our focus and hope is on Jesus (not man) and that our values are His.

The real ministry of the church must be DECENTRALISED otherwise it marginalizes and devalues the importance of the majority of the hours and days of our lives. (Centralised ministry activities actually seem to take people away from the places and people God has put in our lives).

If you believe that your ordinary life is the most important place of ministry, you will be able to hear Father tell you how to do it with great effect. Think about this: the early church thrived and grew as they connected with people over meals and in homes and over back fences. At the end of a day of cooking and working and fetching and living they were tired too. But here’s the difference-there was no other plan.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION…
How can our faith be real in the context of normal life? Do you believe the ministry of the church needs to be ‘decentralised’? Do ‘centralised’ church events take people away from those they should be reaching out to?

Add your comments below...