In this article I want to address something that is more subtle, but no less a threat to the purity of the church than is the church growth movement. It is anti-intellectualism. Among the many passages in Scripture which deal with the value of the mind are Romans 12:2 where Paul tells the church that believers must be renewed in their minds. Another is Proverbs 2:2-6 where Solomon says that we are to make our ears attentive to wisdom, incline our hearts to understanding, and cry for wisdom. There is one obvious benefit for a Christian to grow in their mind: it will produce the fear of the Lord. An intellectual faith (or, an intelligent one) is good because it sharpens and matures the mind in its ability to worship God. I am not talking about intellectualism for its own sake, but for the sake of glorifying God.

Although Scripture lifts the mind up as critical for the growth and maturity of God’s people, His exhortations to use our mind have to a large degree been lost in the modern church. This has become an accepted aspect of American Christianity which is in part due to the influence of the Charismatic and Church Growth movements which both place an emphasis on feelings and emotions above thinking. Also, neither of these two movements encourage deep meditative thought.

The great concern I have is that if the church does not understand the Bible, then how can it know God, and how can it then worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24)? God has not left the world to its own theories and speculations about who He is. He has carefully preserved His Word in order that man will know everything he must regarding Him.

Many have embraced a critical attitude against deep intense study, as if this is somehow unspiritual, but it has not always been this way. The anti-intellectual movement in the American church really began with the revivals in the 1700's when, according to Richard Hofstadter (Anti-intellectualism in American Life), these revivals had opened the doors to a flood of self-professed Bible teachers who had virtually no training nor understanding about what they were speaking. In 1743 Gilbert Tennent described this movement in New England. These were "Men who, though they have no Learning, and but small Capacities, yet imagine they are able, and without Study too, to speak to the spiritual Profit of such as are willing to hear them."

As more men were willing to stand up and proclaim the Gospel, although few had more than a superficial understanding about what they were proclaiming, which in turn led to a great deal of false teaching, a movement started which led many to exclaim, as one man did in 1856: "[L]arnin isn’t religion, and eddication don’t give a man the power of the Spirit. . . ." Deep intense study was slowly replaced by being "moved of the Spirit." The fruit of what began back then quickly became apparent: a shallow understanding of God’s Word which laid the groundwork for the superficiality that is so prevalent today (the popular statement now that "God told me . . ." is the result of this).

In defending the necessity of diligent Bible study one writer responded to this growing anti-intellectual false sanctity when he responded in 1853: "Are we not apt to dissociate the intellect from the heart, to array knowledge and piety against each other, to exalt feelings at the expense of the judgment, and to create the impression extensively, that eminent attainments in knowledge and grace are incompatible?"

Our level of ignorance today regarding God’s Word is proportionate to the lack of time spent in studying it. We would rather feel than think. I call this "the lazy man’s spirituality."

As a culture we have been described as "the culture of narcissism," "the psychological society," "a nation of victims," "a culture of complaint," "a culture of entertainment," and "the culture of consumerism." But if I were going to classify our society in regard to God, I would call it "the culture of feeling which prizes experience over genuine understanding."

This has led to such an overall superficial entertainment-based approach to spiritual growth (which in truth is antagonistic to it) that virtually the only standard which is important today when it comes to doctrine is if one "feels good" about what they believe. Feeling has replaced thinking.

However, our Christian heritage is one of meditation, thoughtfulness, mentally wrestling with the teachings of the Bible. Our heritage is one that calls for understanding. What value is there in worshiping God if we do not know who He is nor understand what He has said? The goal of the intellect, of developing the mind, is not an end in itself. That would be a waste. The goal of developing the mind is for the purpose of knowing God and glorifying Him.