In a recent study of 1 Thessalonians I stumbled across a nugget of truth that had evaded my previous examinations of that letter. There it was all along, but my eyes, mind and heart had not taken notice of it. Maybe it has been hidden from you too; so here it is.
The text is 1 Thess. 2:13: “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”
The hidden tidbit of gold rested inside the words “received” and “accepted”. On the surface this treasure didn’t seem like much, but after a little digging, their value was buried no longer.
The word translated “received” is from the Greek word paralambano, which means to receive something transmitted; “accepted” is from dechomai meaning to take with the hand, to take hold of, to receive. It is easy to see that these words are synonyms that often overlap in meaning, “yet the suggestion of a welcoming or appropriating reception generally cleaves to dechomai, “accepted”.”
Translation? On the surface both words appear to be dressed the same, they mean to receive something. But the distinction here in 1 Thess. 2:13 floats to the surface. The Thessalonians “received” the Word of God when it was preached by Paul; they heard it, nodded, smiled and maybe even raised their hands in agreement. But then they “accepted” it. The ear and the mind “received” the Word, but the heart and spirit “accepted” it for what it really was: THE WORD OF GOD.
Most professing Christians, even most practicing Christians, are great “receivers” of the Word. However, it is that “accepting” part that chokes them up. They profess to others how much they love the LORD and their Bible, but live their life as “Furr’s Cafeteria” Christians; they pick and choose what is tastiest to their spiritual pallet and shake their head at everything else. So where do I get the audacity to say that this is the truth about MOST professing and practicing Christians? I’m so glad you asked.
In 2017 George Barna teamed up with Summit Ministries to conduct a survey of “practicing Christians”. One of their discoveries was that a mere 17% had a biblical worldview. That meant that only 1 out of 6 “practicing” Christians agreed with these 6 basic Christian beliefs.
1-absolute moral truth exists; 2-the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches; 3-Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic; 4-a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do good works; 5-Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and 6-God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today.
Then in 2021, Barna teamed up with the Cultural Research Center to uncover that only 9% of professing Christians have a biblical worldview; only 1 in 10 believe those 6 basic Christian truths.
I used the term “Furr’s Cafeteria” Christians because their study also revealed that: 72% argue that people are basically good; 66% say that ‘having faith’ matters more than which faith you pursue; 64% say that all religious faiths are of equal value; 58% believe that if a person is good enough, or does enough good things, they can earn their
