Today I have had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with Dr. Harold L. Willmington (Author and Dean of Willmington School of the Bible). We talked over lunch about peoples lack of Biblical foundation and how that related to our culture. In the past, pastor/teachers have approached teaching the Bible with the underlying assumption that the hearers had a Biblical background and world view, however that is not true today.

And so, we that teach are at a cross roads, do we make our teaching lighter and more palatable to the general public, or do we go for the gold and teach hardcore theology and doctrine? My answer is yes. We do both. We hold the hands of those taking their first steps into understanding the Bible, but we also ask them to take great and difficult steps on their own along the way. We want people to have to struggle through the difficult teaching of Jesus so that they can own it and live it. I’m more convinced than ever that this is the only way to turn the increasing tidal wave of shallow, self-centered churches.

Any thoughts?