Monday, November 13, 2006

A simple culture

On several occasions recently I have had people talking about teaching specific congregations within the church. More often than not, in my discussions of how to best teach a specific culture ( or subculture within western culture ) I have been told that the culture is too simple to understand deep teaching. Poor, rich, upper class, new christians, inner-city, suburban, rural, blue collar, you name it, all are used to rationalize a lack of solid teaching.

I can think of 3 seperate teachers/pastors in opposite cultural settings that have told me how their people cannot understand deep teaching due to being simpletons. Is this the truth?

I understand some people actual have mental problems that slow their understanding of basic truths, but everyone else just have not been educated. I wonder how dangerous it is for leaders to assume a lack of potential in their people. Doesn't God open the banquet to everyone once the original guests elect to see it as trivial and not show? Isn't there something to be said about how Jesus taught blue collar, uneducated people how to know God and they built the church?

Maybe it is just me, having a passion to teach, and thinking everyone else should. But maybe it is a huge problem, maybe many leaders in churches are dropping the ball.

I am still thinking through this and will post more, but it was a bit fresh today.

1 comment:

Tim said...

No way! This comes down to so-called "teachers" not knowing how to teach deep spiritual truths and, in the worst of situations, not knowing/understanding the deep spiritual truths themselves!!! And you know that I'm pointing some fingers here at my own denomination who seem to be among the worst at this that I've ever seen.