In the last sharing, we mentioned that when a person does not apply what he/she have learnt, he or she is in fact not knowing.
In short, to say that one knows, but does not apply, is not knowing.
Unfortunately, the church does not understand this. Let me give you some examples:
1) Churches led Bible studies that focus only on knowing what the Bible teaches, even emphasize the need to study Greek and Hebrew, but never focus on application. Whether the members are applying what they have learnt is not the concern. In many cases, the members also satisfied with just knowing, but not applying. Some of them even see knowledge as a spiritual standard, thinking that “knowing” is a spiritual progress. This is like a person who puts on Superman’s cape and wears his underpants on the outside and thinks he can fly into the sky.
2) It is good that Sunday sermons in churches focus on the expository preaching. The problem is that churches seldom evaluate whether members are applying it in their lives or not. Pastors spend all their energy on interpreting Scripture, but very little on the practicality of applying it. Interpretation of Scripture is certainly important to help us understand the Bible correctly. But to understand it correctly without applying it is like buying a big bao, putting it in our hand, not eating it, stinking it up, and throwing it away. To do so is basically idiotic behavior. Unfortunately, this does not just happen for a week or two, but it is repeated weekly in the church.
3) The church seldom teaches something outside of the Bible that can help us with how to practice. As a result, we know very little about what we can do to help us practice. For example: How can we be more productive? How to develop good habits? How to deal with emotions? How to handle conflicts? How to communicate effectively? etc.
4) Church pastors and members often measure the quality of pulpit by “whether there is any new light” (In fact, they are not talking about spiritual light, but new knowledge, i.e., new knowledge or new arguments that they have not heard before.) The church equates knowledge with spirituality. The measure of a person’s spirituality is their knowledge of the Bible. Certainly, knowledge is very important, but it is even more important to live out what you have learnt.
Churches should think about how to effectively help their members practice what God has taught them. Here are some suggestions:
1) The church can focus on teaching one book of the Bible until the members have a deep grasp of it and apply what they understand in their lives before switching to another book. Don’t jump from one book to another, teaching a little bit here and there in the name of diversity, so that members will not be bored, but in fact, members may not know the contents of the Bible for decades. I often have the thought that it is enough to know few books in the Bible well and apply it well.
2) Churches must implement purpose driven discipleship training, or intentional discipleship training. Purpose driven means that the participants will be able to apply God’s Word and grow in life. Intentional means that there is a conscious emphasis on applying what is learnt from the Bible to life.