Every church is preaching the Word of God, the Bible, by the Holy Spirit of God. Or are they?

It can be confusing. What church publicly says, ‘We don’t really think the Bible matters.’? None. Well, almost none. Instead churches, of almost every flavour, say ‘The Bible is God’s word. We love it. We live under it.’

So how do you know if a church is really teaching God’s word?

This really matters. I listened to 10 talks on Youtube, each talk being 30-40 minutes long, from a huge Brisbane Church. And I hate to say it, but I need to say it - this church was not teaching Christianity. I’ll tell you why - in over 300 minutes of preaching about 10 minutes touched on Jesus. And less than that was spent on the key themes of the Bible (see question 5 below).

If Jesus is the centre and meaning of Christianity then 10 minutes on Jesus means that whatever is being taught is not Christianity. It might flow from Christianity, it might be an implication of Christianity, it might even contribute to a good life but it isn’t actually teaching historic Christianity. No Jesus Christ - no Christianity.

There might be plenty of Christians in that church. But any non Christian walking into that church won’t hear God’s truth from the Bible and I’d be very surprised if they could meet Jesus.

So here’s six questions to work out if a church is teaching Biblical Christianity or something else:

1.    Does the preacher show us what God's word (the Bible) is saying?

2. Does he show us how he got the message / idea that from the Bible?

3.     Does he challenge us to think / feel / live differently under God's word? (And is he living under it?)

4.     Does he show how God's word ultimately is all about Jesus?

5.     Over time are the great themes of God’s word being taught? (Here are the themes I’m talking about:
God’s love in Jesus,
God’s authority,
God’s holiness,
God’s hatred of evil,
God’s salvation in Jesus - eternal life in Jesus,
Jesus’ death,
Jesus’ resurrection,
God’s judgement on evil and wickedness,
the changed life because of the work of Jesus.
If these aren’t being taught - the preacher or teacher isn’t teaching God’s truth from God’s word. These themes are the preoccupation of the Bible.

6.     Was the passage of the Bible taught in the context of the chapter or book of the Bible? (Or, was it ripped out of context?) This involves showing enough of a passage that we, the listeners, can see and understand the context.

Time it
Another way to see if your church is teaching God’s word is to get out a stop watch. Time the talk. How long did the talk take? How much of the talk was explaining God’s word - the Bible, and its implications? How much was about something else? This is a very rough guide but it will help you see if you need to start asking the questions above.

Find another church

If the answer is consistently ‘No!’ to the questions above, over several talks, then this church is not teaching you God’s word. It might be teaching you. But it isn’t teaching you God’s word. Find a different church.

And if you’re at the church I lead and I stop teaching God’s word, leave. And take your friends with you.

Next steps
Like to hear some of our Bible teaching? You can do that here.
Like to explore this idea some more? This article from TGC is good exploring 5 things to look for in a new church.