Hi
,
Recently, a man complained to me that his pastor never teaches from the first chapters of Genesis. When I asked him why, he said that the pastor
never really gave him an answer. So, I gave him the answer...
In all likelihood, the reason is that the pastor is afraid of controversy, dissention, and offending
people. This could affect church attendance which could lead to loss of giving, etc. So, why does teaching Genesis cause such concern? Here are just a few reasons, but they are probably the key ones:
1. The plain and clear message of Genesis 1 is that the creation took six literal days. This is totally supported by the specific Hebrew words used and also by the context.
2. The
genealogies of Genesis 5 (and other places) give us a clear picture of the time period between creation and the flood. The summation of that plus the subsequent years between the flood and the birth of Jesus, plus the roughly 2,000 years between Jesus and now will yield a total of up to about 7,000 years.
3. The account of the great flood of Noah's time (Genesis 6-9) yields a clear teaching of this being a global event.
All of the above are also supported by many discoveries in various scientific fields. However, the evolutionary mindset has so effectively been entrenched into our society that it influences many Christians, too. This is especially true of the parameters into which evolution falls (including a billions-of-years time frame, and also a wide rejection of the global flood), and since many Christians accept
them without really thinking it through, many pastors choose to just ignore these passages and shy away from core origins issues. They often see no need to delve into these areas especially since they know that there is controversy associated with it.
There is a huge danger in doing this, however! By avoiding these issues and not teaching what the Bible clearly says concerning them, they are leaving a lot of people in the dark with no solid answers to skeptics of the Christian faith. Christians can't answer simple questions like - When did the dinosaurs live? What happened to them? Where did the water for the flood come from? Where
did it go afterwards? What is the "Geological Column" based on?... The questions go on and on. Neglecting them leaves Christians ill-equipped, confused on many basic issues, and can lead to a collapse of their faith. Minimally, it is a refusal to teach the whole "counsel of God".
The WHOLE Bible is God's truth - not just a portion of it.
