Dear friends,
I do not wish to be abrasive or obtuse when I assert here
that laypersons have a particular responsibility and privilege to labor. At the
same time, teachers in a particular subject ought to understand the limitations
of laypeople (who may themselves be teachers) and strive to meet the needs of
students and learners in such a way that a concept in question is understood to
the fullest degree. In all subjects theological and philosophical, both parties
are to strive to meet to produce a desired communication. But let me share for
a bit what I consider to be a problem among laypeople that had led many to
embrace apostate teaching. It’s called the “Lazy Layperson Syndrome.” (LLS)
While teachers must understand that many concepts and great
truths can be difficult to grasp and that it may take many years of toil and
insight by the learner to crystallize and establish a solid foundation of
knowledge so that it can be expanded further under the Lordship of Christ, the
layperson must also understand that he / she is not passive – that the mind
takes molding and molding often hurts; yet a significant amount of satisfaction
is gained when a concept is formed in the mind. Here is a little definition of
the Lazy Layperson Syndrome:
LLS is a malady of general ambivalent sluggishness that some
people unfortunately employ with regard to the things of God. It is like a
leech that causes an otherwise capable person (without intellectual
disabilities) to not want to work to understand a principle or proposition that
is biblical or extra-biblical. The person with LLS is usually antagonistic to
doctrine, especially to ones they perceive to be “unnecessary” or “divisive.”
LLS is even promoted in churches, where the preacher chooses to dumb down information
to such a degree that it loses its value. This syndrome causes pain in the eyes
when old confessions of faith and catechisms are put before the sufferer and
aching in the ears of those who hear words such as “propitiation,” “theology
proper,” or even “substitutionary atonement.”
In reality, the great catechisms
and confessions of faith were drawn to facilitate learning by laypeople. But
LLS stops this connection in its tracks. All the layperson needs is to pick up
a dictionary and a thesaurus and spend a few minutes of time in order to learn
the usage of a concept and apply it in usage. Yes, this takes work, and it is
God-honoring. The Trinity cannot be diluted in order for “ordinary laypeople”
to understand. LLS readily invites heresy by causing the sufferer to mistakenly
believe that “The Shack” is actually an “easier to understand” book about the
trinity, or that T.D Jakes really has a “basic understanding” of the trinity
and doesn’t really need all that “doctrinal hair-splitting” that the ancient
“doctrine-obsessed” Athanasius and his “ilk” formulated. Emergent teachers
themselves have made millions due to LLS via book sales and money proceeding
from all forms of media. “We are just trying to make the difficult things
easier,” they say, and people nod their heads in agreement and happily approve
of such teachers as “heroes”, as if systematic theology was akin to “Calculus
for dummies.”
Another symptom of LLS is denial. A sufferer will deny that
they in fact possess this malady. They will believe that they are just a
“regular person,” and that teachers should stoop down so incredibly low so as
to spoon feed them the basics (or a diluted form of them?) so that little to no
work is done by the sufferer. The person will then defend others with LLS and teachers
that promote the disease. We can see it spreading in Christian bookstores as
people purchase books, thinking that they will be taught the Bible. Yet when
they hear real Bible theology and preaching, their LLS will kick in, and
communication between teacher and student will not happen.
I am not asking that everyone understand every single
sentence written by John Owen, but the standards in general are at an all-time
low. Does God get glory from this?
Why are the standards being lowered? Is there a good reason
for this? Is it biblical? An emphatic and ultra-qualified “no!” rings forth. I
leave you, brethren, with this verse. The context may not be explicitly
expressing my thesis, but I believe it to be a reasonable mention:
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual,
but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and
not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye
able. (1 Cor. 3: 1,2)
In Christ,
Felipe Diez III
Amen! America is lowering the Christian standard in a scary way, and its because of a lack of desire to learn what the Bible really says.
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