It's About That Gallup Poll...

The latest Gallup survey (May 7, 2017) makes sad reading:  Only 24% of Americans believe the Bible is the “actual Word of God, to be taken literally.”  This compares to 37% in 1984.  The lowest number for this category in the 40-year history of Gallup polling.  Since the number is even lower for college grads (only 13%) and the young (only 12%), we will continue on this downward path, except for revival, for a very long time. 

These miserable numbers are confirmed at the other end of the poll:  The skeptics.  Those who believe the Bible is “fables, history, moral precepts recorded by man” went from 15% in 2005 to 26% now, in only the last 12 years. 

But there is a third option that Gallup included—what some analysts are calling a “medium” view (and we all love to avoid the extremes, right?)  Those who believe the Bible is “inspired by God, but not all of which are to be taken literally” are 47%.  This has remained fairly stable through the years.  Gallup’s commentary puts a rosy image to all this data, by saying, when you combine 24% literal+47% medium, ”thus 71% continue to believe the Bible is a holy document.” 

Well, I beg to differ.  I want to focus on the 47% “medium” folks.  When people say the Bible is “not all to be taken literally,” they’re really saying they reserve the right to disbelieve the Bible when it suits them.  For instance, they believe the Lord’s Prayer is inspired, and may have memorized it, or sang it, or heard many sermons on it; but does Matthew 5:31-32 inspire them the same way?  It records Jesus saying:

 “Furthermore it has been said (i.e., Old Testament), ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ ³² But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.

This would stop most “Christian” divorce lawsuits cold—if Jesus’ command were believed. But this Scripture clearly doesn’t stop anything, since divorce rates among those who call themselves “Christian” are as high as those who are of other faiths--or no faith.  This data is from Barna Group Research, a Christian poll-taker.  However, Barna takes great pains to point out that regular churchgoers have a lower rate of divorce than the “nominal” ones that just call themselves “Christian” and do not attend church regularly. 

Well, that’s exactly my point.  There are lots of people who think they are Christians, tell people they’re Christians when it suits them, but they think they don’t have to obey Scriptural commands when it doesn’t suit them; they cherry-pick Bible verses for their moral structure.  The truth is, they are under serious deception. These “medium” believers are more than likely not Christians at all. 

It’s fairly easy to prove this Scripturally.       

Let’s start with Jesus, who claimed to be God.  John 10:30-33:

 I and My Father are one.” ³¹ Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. ³² Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”³³ The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.”

 Jesus, who indeed was God, believed the Bible was the literal word of God:  In John 10:35, He said “the Scripture cannot be broken.”  In many other places, He asserted the literal inspiration of Genesis, Jonah, etc, even despite the “fantastic” stories of God’s creation and Jonah being swallowed by a “big fish” and being vomited out alive three days later.  So, if the God-man, Jesus, believes every word, it’s obvious that His disciples--if we really fit the definition of "disciples"--should as well.  If you think you can deviate from God on something as important as divorce doctrine, you are not His follower.  So, you are not a Christian.

So, you “medium” folks, if you say that not all Scriptures are literally inspired, aren’t you calling Jesus a liar?  Can you call God a liar?  Of course, the traditional escape that people do here, is to say that we don’t have the original inerrant Bible, and man has made copies of copies, and we all know what happens, right?—errors creep in.  Well, here’s the thing.  If you believe that God lovingly gave His gospel, showing the way to get to heaven, why on earth would He allow errors to distort the gospel, where people reading it-- carefully--still miss out on the heaven-trip?  It makes no sense that He would allow that to happen.  So we have to conclude that the commandments of Christ, and the way to heaven, did not get distorted.  God loves us too much to allow the way to heaven to become ill-lit.

Well, you may say, “Maybe it did get distorted anyhow, but He’s got your back by giving sincere seekers a pass; He knows their intentions to do good, right?”  Well, where does it say in Scripture that “good intentions” mean anything?  It doesn’t.  As I have written in several other blogs, the way to heaven is to form a relationship with Jesus through repentance of sin and belief in Him and what He said--then daily, through asking the Holy Spirit’s help, acting on that repentance—if it was genuine—by learning and following His commands.  True belief involves trust in His decisions for your life.  After all, if you’re saved, He is the sovereign Lord of your life, and you follow His commands.  His commands, unlike what skeptics accuse, are not unclear.  The above command on divorce is crystal in what it expects.  You don’t want to be one of those folks who “made a decision for Christ” simply as a “fire insurance from hell,” then live life making your own decisions about what is moral and acceptable, and what is not—that makes your decision to “follow Christ” a meaningless blink.  If you only search Scriptures for verses that confirm your decision, you’re just using—and abusing--His word.  In that case, you are sovereign of your will for life—you have made yourself a God of judgment. You pronounce judgment: “This Scripture I like, that Scripture I don’t like.”  I would think that the only God, who is jealous of idolatry, or letting anything get in the way of His being close to you—would have a problem of you setting yourself on His throne and pushing Him out.

So I’m saying, unlike Gallup, that 71% of Americans do NOT regard the Bible as a “holy document,” if you consider the real meaning of “holy.”  No, I’m saying that only 24% truly consider following Scripture totally, and have faith that all its commands are good for them—because they were ALL given by a God who loves us more than our moms do.  The other 76% are more than likely not Christian, because they are not standing up for God even when it's inconvenient, or not standing up for Christ when it counts, rejecting His word.  I’m saying that a huge number of people (maybe even 47% of the sentient population) who call themselves “Christian” are not really Christian--they have deceived themselves. 
What proof do I have for asserting this self-deception?  Well, in another blog, “Most Americans are Not Saved,” I prove, using Scripture, that it is a statistical impossibility that the people who claim to be Christian are truly Christians. I also prove it on the basis of the above-stated fact that those who call themselves “Christian” have the same rate of divorce as non-Christians, when the command of Christ in Scripture would forbid a high percentage of those divorces. I prove it on the basis that we haven’t rescinded Roe v. Wade after 45 years of its terrorizing innocent babies, causing 60 million—60 million!—deaths of human life.  It’s horrible to think of what God will do to our country.  This is ten times the Holocaust.  Science is clear—that baby is a separate human being—yet we allow this lethal disgusting belief that “I get the say over my own body.”  It’s convenient, but it’s totally non-Scripture—and non-scientific.  IF we actually had 71% Christians who truly respected the Bible, those huge protesting "Christians" would’ve rioted long ago about this worse-than-Nazi holocaust, and scared judges would’ve repealed Roe v. Wade on an immediate appeal.  If we’d saved most of those 60 million little ones, I can’t even imagine about how God would have blessed us. Instead, we’re in the impotent position of standing by, doing little while they debate whether taxpayer money (!) can be used for murder.   

I can also prove my assertion on the basis of our “Christian” teenagers, who indulge in pornography and premarital sex.  This is a raging problem, so youth ministers tell us.  They’re not respecting Scripture either.  They think that their “decision for Christ” will get them to heaven, but they seem to ignore the clear teaching of Scripture like I Corinthians 6:9b-10:

Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals nor sodomites, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 

“Fornicators” includes those who engage in premarital sex.  Verses in Ephesians 5:5-6, and Revelation 21:8, mentioning “sexually immoral,” echo the same end-result of being turned away from heaven.  The “escape clause,” thank God, is that if you truly repent from these things, and cease indulging in them, and truly follow Christ again, you can be on the heaven-bound path again. But doing it, repenting, then doing it again—that’s not repentance, and that’s not following Christ.  You’ve deceived yourself again.

Finally, I can prove my assertion by referring to how widespread the deception is, by seeing how Christ highlighted it in Scripture.  Listen to His words in Matthew 7:21-23: 

   “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

These verses assert that doing services for Jesus is not the key to heaven; too many use His name, and then, in secret, “practice lawlessness”—i.e., still form their moral structure on their own when the chips are down.  Yes, I will get an abortion; yes, I will get a divorce—never mind Scripture.  The Bible is not the best way for my life here; I do not have to follow it “literally.”  Not in this case.  I’ll follow it most of my life.  Thus, some murder a baby, or some murder a marriage.  And they go to church!  And people pray for them, that “God will guide you in your crisis.”  Well, does any of these clueless souls realize that God has already guided them in His Word?  Well, if someone wants to be kicked out of that prayer group, all you have to do is quote Scripture and take away their deception.  I remember my “Young Marrieds” Sunday School group.  Teacher was really up on Scripture.  Turned out that every single couple in that group—except me and my lovely wife—got divorces.  Their reasons were always off the Scriptural acceptance map.  They all felt that they were saved, but maybe they’d “lose a reward” when they go to heaven.  Well, they’re part of the pathetic 47% “medium” literalists.  “Sometimes I like it, sometimes I don’t.”    

What these people need is a hot seat, put there by a preacher who isn’t afraid to heat up the sanctuary with hot Scriptures—which nobody does anymore in the ‘burbs.  The Dangers of Hell is not a top-10 sermon, but you can get more souls in heaven by some inoculations now and then.  All you folks with the gift of evangelism:  Preach it; don’t let those people get away still deceived!  If you’re a preacher and never gotten anybody really angry with you, you’re not preaching all the Word.  Jesus never did a thing wrong to anybody, yet He was killed after only 3-1/2 years of giving them the truth—He spoke of both God’s love and God’s “other side” of judgment on those who formed their own moral structures, distorting His Word. Are you ready to be treated the same as the Master?  Ready to suffer some persecution?  As goes the teacher, so goes the students, as Jesus said. 

Pastors may say, “Well, I’m persecuted—my people ignore my sermon advice and fight over petty things.”  That’s not persecution—that means you have a bunch of baby Christians, who are possibly not even saved at all.  You fed them milk, milk, milk.  Bland, bland, bland.  Make the sanctuary a boot camp.  Slap some sense with some tough love Scriptures, maybe they’ll eventually march together and accomplish things that the church should accomplish.  Such as living their lives for others, being humble and sacrificial.  Give them meat.  Let them grow up.   

I guess you can tell that I’m tired of “medium” Christians and medium pastors.  Oh, yeah, I can’t resist laying down one more Scripture: What Jesus said about people that are neither hot nor cold—i.e., “medium,” or lukewarm.  Revelation 3:15b-17:

I could wish you were cold or hot. ¹⁶ So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot I will vomit you out of My mouth. ¹⁷ Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—

In truth, most of those “medium” believers, those who straddle heaven and the world—an untenable position—are there because they loved the world and still wanted to be called “Christian.”  In the world, they accumulated comfortable assets.  But spiritually they are poorer than Bangladeshis living at the trash pits.  For the most part, they are not bound for heaven.  Maybe they thought that “God made me rich, so He must love me.” Sorry, no such rule in the New Testament.  A fantasy of your own brain.  Don’t listen to the prosperity preachers.  Follow Scripture.  God is perfectly clear there on how to get to heaven.  Only a minority of people get there.  Do you fear God enough to get out of the mediocre majority?  They’re headed down the broad path.  And you know where that goes, right?