You are never going to believe this. A new study reveals a major problem among Christians and those who regularly attend church> It’s probably not what you are thinking either.

Sure, we all have problems, no one is perfect and no one goes through a day without making a mistake. But one of the biggest problems plaguing Christians right now could very well be the source of many other issues happening among the family, community, and culture.

According to a new LifeWay Research study, only about 45% of people that claim to attend church regularly say they read the Bible more than once a week. In other words, 55% of people attending church regularly don’t pick their Bible up at any other time than on Sunday. A recent article reports:

“Christians claim to believe the Bible is God’s Word. We claim it’s God’s divinely inspired, inerrant message to us. Yet despite this, we aren’t reading it…only 45 percent of those who regularly attend church read the Bible more than once a week. Over 40 percent of the people attending read their Bible occasionally, maybe once or twice a month. Almost 1 in 5 churchgoers say they never read the Bible—essentially the same number who read it every day.”

Here’s what I find really incredible about these statistics. At least 20% of people who attend church regularly say they never read their Bible. What exactly are they doing at church!?

The epic problem of biblical illiteracy is not new – it’s been growing over the last 20 years. But it has been compounded by churches that don’t use the bible during their services. I can easily recall attending many Sunday morning services where a single verse or perhaps a short passage of verses was read and then the Bible was never used again. For 30 minutes after the verses were read I sat and listened to the pastor share his thoughts about something that vaguely correlated with the verses, but we never actually studied God’s Word.

As a guy that grew up Baptist I can say that this has been a problem for decades. Church after church, pastor after pastor cherry-picking single verses to “support” their main point. The biblical gymnastics employed are worthy of a trip to the Olympics. The lack of expository preaching has given rise to a generation of Christians that doesn’t even need their Bible in church. And if they don’t need their Bible in church they surely can’t see a reason to read it or engage with it outside of church.

This is an easy connection to make. The average person sitting in the pew sees a pastor read a single verse or maybe a short paragraph of 4-5 verses. Then for the next 30 minutes the pastor simply talks about anything and everything in a rambling mess commonly referred to as a topical sermon. For example: I can read Genesis 1:26-27 which recounts God creating man and woman in His image and then talk for 30 minutes about homosexuality being sinful.

But what have I accomplished?

Effectively: nothing.

Do I believe God created man and woman in His image and designed marriage to be the lifelong union between a single man and a single woman? Absolutely. Will my audience come away believing the same thing after a rabbit-trail disaster in which I rail against homosexuality, liberal politicians, and Supreme Court decisions? Not a chance.

The epic failure of our modern church is that of failing to connect the deep doctrinal truths of Scripture to the everyday lives of believers. How does Genesis 1:26-27 impact me personally, today? How does it translate to my context? Can I clearly communicate the original Hebrew words used to teach this biblical truth? Can I connect this teaching to the teaching of Christ? Can I unambiguously show the Gospel thread intricately woven into these verses that hold meaning for each person in my audience? If the answer is no then I have not “rightly handled the Word of truth.” (2 Tim. 2:15)

At some point in time our pulpits became social/cultural/political stages in which referendums on current events took precedence over biblical study. When that happened we began to see biblical illiteracy among our churches like we’ve never seen before. In fact, so great is the problem that if you are acutely aware of it – as I try to be – and you walk into a church where people have a solid grasp of their theology and can articulate their beliefs, it’s shocking. There’s an energy that doesn’t exist in other churches.

Hey, I like what the Lifeway article had to say about biblical illiteracy and how to counter it. Their research shows that small groups do a lot for ensuring people are not biblically illiterate and I couldn’t agree more. In fact, Lifeway has suggested at least 8 ways to combat biblical illiteracy, including:

1. Confessing sins and wrongdoings to God and asking for forgiveness
2. Following Jesus Christ for years
3. Being willing to obey God, no matter the cost
4. Praying for the spiritual status of unbelievers
5. Reading a book about increasing spiritual growth
6. Being discipled or mentored one-on-one by a more spiritually mature Christian
7. Memorizing Bible verses
8. Attending a small group focused on Bible study

But, and I will continue to “preach” this: biblical illiteracy will continue to be a problem until expository preaching is made a priority in the pulpit.

There’s a time and place for topical sermons. But any church hoping to educate their congregation and begin eliminating biblical illiteracy must prioritize expository preaching.