9 Things Every Christian Ought to Know

What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You

Wiped Out!

The waves were enormous, much bigger than those in my native state of Florida. We were in Maui, Hawaii, and I was excited. I love to bodysurf. Catch a wave just right, and you can ride without a board all the way to the beach.

I worked my way out to where the waves were breaking. I saw my wave building up. This would be a great ride. I knew I had to catch it just right. At the special moment I put my head down and gave a kick. The action really began.

The monster wave didn’t take me to the beach. It picked me up like a rag doll and “body slammed” me on the ocean floor. The lights went out. I was numb. “Let me check. Can I move my legs, my arms?” Nothing was broken. I made my way carefully to the shore.

When I got back on solid ground, I turned to see the big sign posted:

NO BODYSURFING.
Serious Spinal Injury May Result.

There was the warning in plain sight, but I was saturated with ignorance. So much for the old proverb, What you don’t know can’t hurt you.

Education is costly, but ignorance may be devastating. There are some basic truths that every Christian ought to know. Many founder in a sea of moral relativism and vague religious opinions. Some may be body slammed, like I was, because they do not know.

Our society boasts about pluralism (there is room for every idea) but really practices syncretism by blending all religious thought into a bland mixture of spiritual pablum. Americans love to prate about values but are quickly intimidated when the question is asked, “Whose values?” It is more morality by majority than biblical virtues.

Some speak of education as the answer to most everything, and yet the more we know, the deeper we sink. We are “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7). Our generation has substituted facts for truth. We don’t ask, “Is it true?” We just want to know, “Does it work?” Many Christians don’t grow because they don’t know. Facts are like a recipe, but truth is like a meal. Digest a truth and it will change your life.

“Buy the truth, and do not sell it” (Prov. 23:23).

• We must prize the truth. There is no way to be a happy, victorious Christian without a firm conviction based on foundational truth.
• We must purchase the truth. “Buy the truth.” Salvation is free, but the quest for truth is costly. Yet while discipleship is costly, ignorance is far more costly. The quest for truth will cost precious time, discipline, and obedience, but it is worth it.
• We must preserve the truth. “Do not sell it.” Some will tempt us to “sell out.” Don’t do it. Get a bulldog grip on the truth and never let go.

When the child of God
Loves the Word of God
And sees the Son of God,
He is changed by the Spirit of God
Into the image of God
For the glory of God
Because he has found the truth of God.

This book deals with the fundamental truth that Every Christian Ought to Know. It is written to be clear but not simplistic. It is for the new believer but also for those who seem bogged down in their Christian walk.

Adrian Rogers and Steve Rogers, What Every Christian Ought to Know (Nashville, TN: B&H Books, 2012).