Intellectual Dishonesty

Congregations are shaped by their teachers and preachers. Since most congregations have just one preacher then he has a tremendous shaping effect on the congregation where he preaches.

If that preacher is intellectually dishonest then the congregation has a tendency to be composed of those who have a low scriptural I.Q. or those who are apathetic towards the scriptures. Those who have a high scriptural I.Q or who truly care about God’s word won’t tolerate intellectual dishonesty and will look for another church.

Examples of intellectual dishonesty would include agenda based teaching. That is… having an opinion about something and gathering and massaging scriptures to support that opinion. Here’s another… if there is a scriptural dilemma and both sides have merit, only present the side you agree with and ignore the other view.

When I was a young Christian (and had a low scriptural I.Q.) I would listen to the preachers and teachers and take their arguments and go out and wage war with the denominations. Some of the time, the arguments were leaky and wouldn’t hold water and I would stand there looking like a spiritual idiot holding an empty bucket. That’s because I was shaped by someone who was intellectually dishonest or scripturally naïve themselves.

The goal for congregations should be to honestly examine the scriptures and to encourage those with different views to speak up so those views can be considered. Otherwise we might end up with a congregation that is spiritually inbred and that ends up with severe and crippling spiritual defects and handicaps.