It is an understatement to say that moral conditions in Western society are in a state of decline. We are witnessing not merely the decaying of the foundations of social order, but the very struc­ture of Western society is beginning to collapse. Families are falling apart. Church buildings are being closed. Government is losing the credibility to govern. The police are losing the power to enforce the law. Even the military's ability to protect national security is restricted by global politics. Most people are aware that Western society is in deep trouble. But very few of our national leaders have the courage to admit that it is caused by the loss of a basic value system, the loss of Biblical morality.

Biblical morality has been lost largely due to ignorance. True, there are other factors. One could mention, the spreading of secular anti-God, anti-Christian philosophies in the public education systems. While this was happening in the fifties, sixties and seventies, it set the context for a loss of Biblical awareness. The generation of those who grew up in those times felt a general embarrassment about the Bible, which was constantly being bombarded by evolutionary scientists, immoral trendsetters, and neo-orthodox theologians. It was thought that the message of the Bible was better kept within the private sphere, or in the churches. It was thought to be inappropriate in the public media and institutions of education. Gradually, teaching the Bible, even as part of Western literature, was not only considered "inappropriate" but "unconstitutional," and later "illegal." Meanwhile, the knowledge of non-Christian religious literature (of Eastern pagan, or native American religions) was promoted in the name of multi-culturalism. The result was that a generation was allowed to grow up without receiving a general knowledge of the content of the Bible.

Polling Our Ignorance⤒🔗

Who preached the Sermon on the Mount? On Saturday, July 2, 1994, the Grand Rapids Press reported the results of a poll by George Gallup which indicated that, while 8 out of 10 Americans identified themselves as Christians, half of them did not know that Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount. "If people can't handle that question, then they are not going to do well with questions of atonement, grace and redemption," pollster Gallup ob­served. "Americans say they believe in the Ten Commandments but they can't name them. And some Christians who are in church on Easter don't know what they are commemorating." (cf. "Biblical Illiteracy Reaches Epidemic Propor­tions Among Post-boomers," The Grand Rapids Press, July 2, 1994, p.B-6.)

George Gallup's company has been tracing religious trends for the past fifty years and reports show that basic Bible knowledge is at a record low. "The startling fact is that Ameri­cans do not know what they believe or why," he asserts.

Cultural Loss←⤒🔗

The results of this affect society in such a thorough manner that Western culture is drifting on the misty seas of history without being conscious of where we came from, with no scope on where we are and with no compass to tell us what direction we are going.

The cultural loss is felt in the academic field. Teachers and professors of courses in classic Western poetry, literature and music are constantly frustrated by the fact that students do not have even a rudimentary awareness of those Biblical concepts which occur so frequently in the classics. Major events like the creation, the fall, the flood, the exodus, the crucifixion, the major Bible characters like Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses, Abraham, David, Peter, and Biblical themes of vice and virtue, of love and hate, selfishness and self-sacrifice, sin and grace can no longer be assumed to be known by people in Western society. For many of those whom we would meet in the streets of our major cities these are foreign ideas.

Winston H. Manning, a former senior scholar at the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, also complains of the loss:

Biblical literacy is not merely a matter of taste or a decline in cultural knowledge. Rather, the Bible has been the primary text by which the West­ern world has lived together and comprehended God, nature and mankind. Now it has been largely lost because young people for 50 years or so, but especially the 'buster genera­tion' (those age 17-29), were not reared in the textual environment of the Bible. Young people today are not merely different, they are intellectually handicapped and they do not know it.

Many European-Americans have lost even the memory of the Christian roots of Western culture. While ethnic groups who have come from Asian, African, Jamaican or other cultures have been encouraged (even with public funds) to preserve their cultural and religious roots, Euro-Americans have been duped into thinking that it will serve the "global vision" to deliberately forget and even deny their religious roots. We have allowed multicultural education to be defined in terms which have excluded the religious roots of Euro-American culture. The consequence of this loss is the greatest cultural catastrophe of this millennium.

Moral Degeneration←⤒🔗

The ignorance of and disregard for Scripture is now showing its fruit. The moral loss is most keenly felt in our society. The laissez faire theories of humanistic philosophy and psychology which made their way into views of child rearing (Dr. Spock) and education, as well as criminology, and the politics of civil rights, have gone to seed. "Man is basically good; do not impose any behavioural morals on him; but adjust the environment; let him do what he wants, and he will evolve even better." That is how the argument went in favour of non-disciplinary child care, non-directive psychiatric counselling and social work without imposing any system of ethics.

Voila! The children of "freedom" have arrived! Never has Western society seen a generation more enslaved by self-destructive behaviour than the present one. Addiction to alcohol, drugs, pornography, and sexual perversion abound. Because the violence offered by the entertainment media is not stimulating enough, children commit the most violent crimes without any moral conviction or remorse. Moral degeneration has gone so far that children of 10, 11 and 12 years old walk the alleys of our cities with guns in their pockets, hatred in their heart and no conscience to restrain them.

Behavioural psychology told parents a generation ago that the solution was to leave children and young people free to express themselves and free to develop unrestricted. But now it blames that same generation for being the "dysfunctional" parents who caused the problems their children are having today.

God says, "They have forsaken me, what wisdom shall they have." In a society which is more conscious of what its psychologists say than what God says about the causes, standards and cures for human behaviour, we cannot expect that the hypnotic spell which secular psychology has upon Western schools of thought will be easily broken. There is hardly any awareness that there is even an alternative viewpoint, let alone a time-tested divine one.

With so little awareness of Biblical concepts, or even of moral standards left in our culture, the challenge to evangelize our secular society becomes enormous. How do we speak the Gospel to our secular society? We do not speak to a society acquainted with Old Testa­ment writings as Peter did on the day of Pentecost. Nor do we address the context of a gen­eral consciousness of God's justice, to which Luther spoke. We certainly cannot assume the context in which Jonathan Edwards or Whitefield could preach. We live in a time when there is a vacuum, or at best, a confused sea of different religious, psychological and scientific ideas in which people float and flit about aimlessly as the winds of fad and feeling move them.

This presents us all with a very pointed challenge. One of the crying needs of our time is to experience a resurgence of Bible teaching – clear, authoritative, systematic, compre­hensive and practical exposition of the Scriptures.

Catechetical Teaching←⤒🔗

The Reformed practice of catechizing the new, young and mature members of our churches is sometimes taken for granted or even depreciated among us. In the light of what is happening today in our society we have new reasons to appreciate as a valuable heritage the fact that we have catechetical preaching, teaching, Sunday School programs and Bible Study societies. We also are supportive of Christian education which includes systematic Bible study. We should feel confirmed about the wisdom and value of a strong emphasis upon teaching in the Reformed view of ministry. May our ministers and elders feel it as one of the central tasks of the ministry of the Word to continue a strong program of teaching. Let us not allow this aspect of our heritage to slip, lest we or our children should contribute to the Western plague of Biblical illiteracy.

It was a sad time after the death of Joshua when the generation of people who had grown up during the wilderness journey died and "there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which He had done for Israel" (Judges 2:10). They were ignorant not only of a spiritual knowledge of God, but even of the historic facts of God's redemptive work. That ignorance left them completely susceptible to pagan idolatry. It will do so in our society as well.

Evangelical Teaching←⤒🔗

We witness in our time that churches are experimenting with all kinds of entertaining programs, including dramatic films, clowns, shows and plays. The latest contemporary song artists, movie stars or sport heroes are invited to share their talents and testimonies. Whatever merit one may see in such methods in themselves, or as pre-evangelism "lead in's," the fact is that these are not in themselves Biblically ordained means of evangelism. Instead of wasting precious time and resources on such things, the need is urgent that we focus on what Christ has commanded: "Go ye therefore and TEACH all nations" (Matthew 28:19).

To teach is the best means of evangelism. Whatever methods we use to catch the atten­tion of hearers, it should not contradict, detract from, or overpower, but serve the Gospel message we aim to teach. The method Christ has ordained as the one He will bless to "make disciples" and "add to the church such as should be saved" is "preach the Gospel" (Mark 16:16). Paul put it succinctly to Timothy: "Preach the Word" (2 Timothy 4:2).    

True spiritual experience is the goal of Biblical preaching. But it is not the central object of Gospel proclamation. We must realize the time we are in. The spiritual bankruptcy left by Bible criticism in the church and secular humanism in the world has made society ripe for an extreme swing into mysticism. The human heart, languishing in a famine for human significance, will hunger for spirituality, but may find itself drinking from the wrong fountains.

There are many religious marketeers offering revived spirituality, mystical encounters and "signs and wonders" which will indeed induce real ecstatic experiences. But there is still a need to test whether they be the movements of the Holy Spirit, the human spirit or even an evil spirit. More important than identifying with a religious leader's emotion is identifying his teaching. "Try the spirits" is not an invitation to experiment by exposing our soul to the influence of every new religious fad, but to put these movements to the test of Biblical doctrine (cf. John 4:1-30). Whether mysticism is promoted in the classic form of pietistic subjectivism, the evangelical form of testimonialism or a "new age" form of self-conscious positivism, teaching which centres human experience is not Biblical preaching. "We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord" (2 Corinthians 4:5). Preaching which centres on the Christ-centred message of the Word will produce the most balanced spirituality. If we truly believe that the Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and Son in sovereign power, knowledge and wisdom, then we can expect that His work will not be arbitrary nor self-contradictory. It seems obvious to expect that the Holy Spirit's work will always be in accordance with, and by means of His own Word. The best experience is to experience the power of the Word (Romans 1:17). Then we are most assured that our experience comes from the Holy Spirit.

Central to preaching is teaching: the communication of the very message of the Scriptures. This includes teaching the truths about the history of God's redemptive work – centrally "Christ and Him crucified." The Spirit's favourite work is to speak, not so much of Himself, as of Christ (John 16:13, 14). When He teaches us, He makes us more conscious of Christ than of ourselves or our experiences. Biblical teaching keeps the focus away from an unhealthy subjectivism.

Proper teaching equips students with discernment. Religious experience alone does not guarantee that we know the Christ of the Bible. To distinguish cultic belief from Christian faith we need to know whether a believer is in communion with the second Person of the transcendent Godhead, or is focusing on the supposed inner "divine" consciousness of New Age mysticism.

Another aspect of the need for Biblical teaching is the lack of moral impact which professed religion is having on Western society. Without clear teaching too many are thinking of Jesus as one who is rather easy for a carnal person to accept. After all, if Jesus has died for me and forgives me "just as I am," loves me "just as I am" and will go on loving me regardless, even if I always remain "just as I am" … well, who wouldn't want to accept His offer to save us from the eternal consequence of sin!

Biblical teaching will make it clear that the Gospel is a call to repentance and conversion; and that faith will lead to holiness. It is not success to increase the number of nominal "converts," if they remain ignorant of the very essence of the Gospel. Balanced evangelism will focus, not so much on getting numbers, as on being faithful in conveying the Biblical message. It will point to faith in Jesus as the Saviour who saves us from sin. It calls for a repentance which obeys Christ. The Lord insisted that making disciples should include "teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:20).

Surely, Jesus was the best Evangelist! Would we not expect that He would use the very best evangelistic methods! The dramatic arts were available to Greek culture in His time. But how did Jesus "make disciples?" Not by means of play actors (cf. the Greek word "hypo­crites"). He "taught them" (Matthew 5:2; 7:29; 13:54; Mark 2:13; 4:2; 10:1; 11:17; Luke 4:31). Yes, His teaching was "with authority," it included explanation, illustration, exhortation and application – it was everything that preaching should be. But it was always teaching. It's basic element was communication and explanation of the message of God's Word.

The strength of any evangelistic program varies in accordance with the amount of teaching which is done. A Vacation Bible School, or a Boys and Girls Club outreach program into the neighbourhood may involve crafts, recreation or fellowship events, but it is evangelistic inasmuch as it includes the communication of the "evangel" – the Good News, the Gospel message. Let us remember, "Faith cometh by hearing; and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17).

There is also a great need for churches to provide teaching for adults in the Christian community and beyond. One method of evangelistic outreach (one which has been made use of in our own Home Mission station in the Seattle, Washington area) is that of offering a series of public lectures on basic Christian beliefs.

There does seem to be some hope on the horizon. Gallup reports that 20% of all Americans meet together for some form of Bible study. We also notice an increased interest in Bible instruction on a somewhat more advanced level. The growing teaching ministry of Dr. R.C. Sproul as circulated by Ligonier Ministries is an encouraging step in the direction of developing a more Biblically educated Christian community. Study centres are being established "to train adult Christians in the areas of Biblical studies" and related theological fields (cf. The Messen­ger, September 1994, p.15). It is encouraging to notice a new interest in ministries which having a strong teaching program. Does this interest also live among us as churches? Or are we seeing less interest in Bible study? Is it not a sign of life, and a mark of having tasted grace to long for growth in Biblical knowledge? (cf. 1 Peter 2:2, 3)

How will our generation survive spiritually in our increasingly anti-Christian society unless the delight of the blessed man in Psalm 1 is ours? Let us resolve as parents, teachers and ministers that by God's grace we will continue to teach our children, our Sunday School and Catechism classes, our congregations and those around us to the utmost of our ability.

The need is great, but we also realize that our efforts are weak and fruitless in themselves. The saving spiritual knowledge of God which is so essential, and which must be applied by means of Bible teaching is not ours to impart. The Lord Himself gives us hope by providing us a basis on which to teach and pray. He has given us the promise of His Holy Spirit: "He shall teach you all things" (John 14:26).

Long ago the Lord gave His church the promise that, with the rich outpouring of His Spirit, there would come about a great revival of the true knowledge of the Lord.

"After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and / will remember their sin no more."  Jeremiah 31:33, 34

Let us plead this promise. May the Lord grant in our time a measure of this blessing upon us, that many may know the Lord and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.