“At one time Billy Graham could hold up his black leather Bible

and say, ‘This Bible says…’ and people would listen and respect
his words…Today, as we hold up our Bibles in the emerging
culture and say, ‘The Bible says…’ we are likely to get a very
different response.”1

This passages from author Dan Kimball’s “The Emerging Church”

is a reality most long-term pastors know all to well. In fact, one
doesn’t even need to go all the way back to the days of Billy
Graham’s prime to see a stark difference in how the Bible was/is
respected in our society. In our post-modern world, truth is
considered relative to the individual. People of our day design
their own standards of conduct and morality, governed not by a single source, but by their own personal
agendas, ideas, preferences and prejudices. To a degree there has always been an element of this type
of thinking, (see Judges 17:5-6) but never has this abandonment of truth been so widespread as it is
today.

While many factors could be cited as contributors to this departure, one of the main culprits for this
spiritual disruption is certainly the shift away from the simplicity of the Gospel in the church. Paul
foresaw and warned us against this danger, “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve
through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (2
Corinthians 11:3 KJV).

In the early days of our nation, the Gospel of Jesus Christ was
considered the central truth by most people in society.
Today, fewer than one in four Americans (24%) now believe
the Bible is "the actual word of God, and is to be taken
literally, word for word," similar to the 26% who view it as "a
book of fables, legends, history and moral precepts recorded
by man."2

How and when did this change take place? I believe one can
mark certain periods and trends which greatly influenced us
away from the simple foundation of the gospel upon the
American church was built.

As the American experience began to go through radical

changes, especially during the 60’s and 70’s, the problems of our society grew increasingly more
complex. For instance, the sexual revolution led to a generation of young people “awakened” to whole
new arena of possible pleasures…the Bible calls it lasciviousness (Eph. 4:19; 1 Pet. 4:3; Jud. 1:4). Sadly,
those who fell into the trap of the “free-love” lie found themselves with diseases of both body and spirit

1
Kimball, D. (2003). The Emerging Church. Grand Rapids, MI.: Zondervan.

2
Record Few Americans Believe Bible Is Literal Word of God. (n.d.). Retrieved from Gallup:
https://news.gallup.com/poll/210704/record-few-americans-believe-bible-literal-word-god.aspx
for which no man-made medicine had yet
been developed to cure. Divorce,
alimony, joint custody, all became new
difficulties for our emerging society.
Likewise, the drug culture came along,
propagated largely by the lyrics of rock
music, promising to expand one’s mind to
new horizons of thought and expression.
And, thus it did. But the realms to which it
took the users left them with a vast
emptiness of soul and spirit which was
hardly advertised in the music that lured
them. In fact, many of the most popular
musicians died mining the depths to which drugs would take a person.

All these new problems needed addressing. America had an entire generation of young people,
demolished by their pursuit of pleasure, laying in the streets just outside her churches. What was the
response from the pulpit? Sadly, in many cases, rather than offer these poor sin-wrecked souls the
remedy God had provided for just such a people, the pastors of that day decided the gospel was
outdated. Modern man needed modern solutions. Humanism, psychology, and science replaced the
Bible. To keep man from feeling worse about his condition, many pastors adopted the position that God
didn’t really mean all He said about sin. Man needed understanding, not conviction, not redemption,
and certainly not judgment.

And so, here we are today. A post-modern society with a majority population who has little to no
respect for the Bible and God’s remedy for mans troubles.
Where will we go from here? Let us learn from the mistakes of
our forefathers and return to the forsaken truths that could
have prevented our nations plunder. Let this Christ-centered
revolution begin in the pulpit and it will be reverberated in the
pew; let it take hold in the pew, and it will change the home;
let it change the home and it will impact the nation. When we
rediscover the mighty power of the simple gospel of Jesus
Christ, we will marvel that we ever let it slip (Hebrews 2:1).

Works Cited
Kimball, D. (2003). The Emerging Church. Grand Rapids, MI.: Zondervan.

Record Few Americans Believe Bible Is Literal Word of God. (n.d.). Retrieved from Gallup:
https://news.gallup.com/poll/210704/record-few-americans-believe-bible-literal-word-god.aspx