Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 20
October 24, 1968
NUMBER 25, PAGE 1-2a

From The Sons Of This World

(Fourth In A Series)

Lowell D. Williams

Jesus said, "For the sons of this world are for their own generation wiser than the sons of the light." Since this truthful statement came from the lips of our Master, should we not heed his advice and learn some lessons from these people? This article will be limited to what "the sons of this world" can teach us concerning the churches' educational programs.

In previous articles we have observed that our present day apostasy is due to ignorance. Few Christians today have sufficient Bible knowledge to refute false doctrine and clearly present the truth. Both liberal and conservative brethren are bemoaning the ignorance of this generation. Since this condition is admitted by all, may we make one simple comment concerning the reason for the condition? Ignorance prevails only where there is either an insufficient quantity or quality of teaching. This generation of Christians does not know the Bible because they have not been taught the Bible. It's just that simple!

Christians who have attended Sunday morning classes and Wednesday evening services for years, cannot tell you when, where, or why Paul wrote 1 & 2 Corinthians, or Romans. Therefore, it is impossible for them to understand how they can put I Cor. 16:1-3: II Cor. 8 & 9; Rom. 15:25-27 all together to find the pattern Paul set in that international benevolent program for the Jerusalem church. This one point kept me from seeing the truth in the Harper-Tant Debate. I couldn't see why Tant would put these scriptures together. Why didn't he stay on the subject? It has kept thousands of people from seeing the truth!

The "man in the pew" does not know such things because he has not been taught sufficiently in our present system of Sunday morning and Wednesday evening Bible classes. He hasn't been taught because he can't be taught in such classes. The average class is taught by men who do not have a sufficient Bible knowledge to teach such subjects. (How many times has your teacher appeared before the class, hunting the verse where he left off last week?) They have not prepared, hence cannot possibly teach — they merely consume time.

But, even in most cases where the class has a well qualified teacher, it is still impossible for him to teach efficiently. Most Sunday and Wednesday classes have several members missing one week and present the next, which makes it impossible for the most highly qualified teacher to build his class on the one preceding. The visitors and absentees prohibit the teacher from building on the knowledge acquired last week. Mothers have to care for their small children, which makes it impossible to acquire much from the class. Everything about such a system demands shallow teaching!

In order to illustrate the above point, let us try to visualize the following event. Suppose you were to take your son to a State University for the purpose of enrolling him. While there you make the following suggestion to the officials. "Sir, I want my son to become a fine medical doctor so he can help to heal the diseases of the human body. In order to do this fine work, I want him to have the best education possible. I want to suggest to you officials that you follow the practice of the Lord's church, because it is the finest educational institution on earth. The Lord made it the pillar and ground of the truth and gave it the responsibility of edifying itself. It is the greatest edifying body on earth and is doing a wonderful job. On the basis of our program, I want my boy to attend two 45 minute classes per week, don't assign much homework, and never give him a test. If he misses a class, please have no make-up work. Furthermore, I don't want the classes operated on a semester basis, but rather let the teacher cover whatever subjects he desires, and take as long as needed to get through any book."

Friend, you can imagine what any University in the land would say!!! Can you imagine any loving parent sending his boy to such a University? Can you imagine educating doctors, lawyers, and bankers under such a system? If not, then why don't we admit our failure and go to "the sons of this world" for a lesson from their school systems. If they have a better approach to education, then let us learn from them.

We demand that the public schools use qualified teachers, who can teach quality subjects, and do it on a time schedule. Such teachers must know when classes start, how many classes they will teach, how much material they must cover, how to test the progress of the students, etc. We demand such from the public schools, yet in the church we expect, and often demand, just the opposite. An average teacher in an average class has no idea how long it will take to teach the book of Hebrews. He operates on the theory that he will quit when he gets through. I know of one preacher who taught from the book of Hebrews for over a year and was in the third chapter when he left.

Brethren used to build grape-arbors to provide a place to meet. Today they use the services of an architect, a contractor, electrician and other specialists who can provide a more suitable building. Why should we not also use the procedures of the specialists to teach the gospel inside that beautiful building? Isn't that why we build the building in the first place? Is it pleasing to God to have a twentieth century building and eighteenth century classes? Next week we shall suggest some minor, yet radical, changes, which might multiply the efficiency of our Bible classes.

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