Some years ago, a group of young boys discovered a bird nest with a couple of baby birds inside. When the boys touched the nest, the birds stretched their feeble feet to their fullest heights, balancing their heads on their wobbly necks, alternating methodically between chirping expectantly and holding their mouths wide open. Apparently, a touch of the nest had, up to this point, meant that their mother had returned with food. Unfortunately, there was no trace of motherly instincts in these boys, a fact promptly confirmed by the actions of one of them. He picked up a handful of dirt and emptied it into the mouths of the birds.

The recklessness of the actions perpetrated by the boys and the appalling consequences in this story are easy to spot. But there is a parallel habit that is all too common in many churches, and much of the time it goes unnoticed. Easily stated, the problem is that many consistent churchgoers do not have a comprehensive, steadfast biblical foundation for their faith. The rugged discipline of critical, theological reflection for a mature application of the faith in all aspects of life has all but vanished from some of our pulpits, and, as a result, many in our churches are defenseless against the onslaught of worldviews, behaviors and other cultural trends inimical to our faith. Like unknowing, feeble hatchlings, we will swallow anything that comes our way.

Craig Hawkins, “Temptation No. 1,” (stone to bread), acrylic on canvas, 60 x 37 inches.

We live in a period when science is believed to be the stalwart custodian of what can confidently be known about reality. In matters of religion, it is assumed that there are no experts, and the advice of a talk show host on spirituality is as reliable, if not more so, as that of the pastor. Church leaders who distinguish themselves by their oratory skills and ability to draw a crowd are unwittingly branded successful, regardless of the depth and rigor with which they themselves, let alone their listeners, grapple with the Scriptures. The admirable, deeply felt admission by the leaders of Willow Creek Community Church near Chicago that in spite of the millions of dollars they have invested in church activities over the last several decades, their way of doing church has failed to produce devoted disciples of Jesus should serve, as Pastor Bill Hybels put it, as “a wake up call” to all of the people of God.(1)

In stark contrast, the apostle Paul envisions a church community in which gifted leaders equip God’s people towards unity and maturity in their knowledge of Christ so that they (the people) can do the work of the ministry. If we run the church this way, “we will no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming.”(2) The Christian life is neither a call to legalism nor a call to lawlessness; it is a call to true, lasting transformation of the whole person in Christ. Fruits of righteousness will necessarily sprout from a well-tended, blooming soul.

Consequently, Christians must resist the temptation to let the ministers in their churches study the Bible for them—they are there to teach how to study the Bible and apply its message. Christians should have the same expectations of themselves as they have of their pastors. Questions such as how could a pastor behave that way? or how can the pastor’s kids be like that?, etc., should be asked of all of us. Our assignments may differ, and those who are ahead in the spiritual journey bear more responsibility towards others, but we are all priests in the temple of God. We labor in the same pasture, and any black sheep can be found and made new by the Shepherd.

Unfortunately, we often operate on a premise similar to popular daytime television programs. The format is always the same: you show as much garbage as you can during the program and then take the last few seconds to issue some moral exhortations. When you think about it, the logic behind this is truly incredible. How can any thinking human being believe that a one minute, haphazard, second-rate moralizing statement can ameliorate the effects of a full hour of unmitigated moral filth? Yet when we live our lives as though God does not exist six days out of the week how can we expect a one hour church service on Sunday morning to straighten us out? If we don’t learn to feed properly and consistently on Christ himself and the reality of God’s Kingdom delineated in his Word, we leave ourselves quite vulnerable to the never-tiring enemy of our souls whose time-tested skills at feeding unprotected, hungry mouths are unequalled. There is a far truer food.

J.M. Njoroge is a member of the itinerant team at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

(1) “Willow Creek Repents?” Christianity Today, October 18, 2007.

(2) Ephesians 4:14.