"PEOPLE DON'T KNOW WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS"

Jack Graham says lack of biblical worldview biggest issue facing the Church: 'People don't know what the Bible says' (part 2)

Read part 1 of Graham's interview with The Christian Post here.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — One of the biggest issues facing the Church today is the attack on the family and biblical worldview, as demonstrated by the rise in deconstruction and biblical illiteracy — but there is a solution, according to Jack Graham, senior pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas.

“Family is the biggest point of interest for most people, in churches and out of churches,” the 73-year-old pastor told The Christian Post. 

“And we're seeing the attacks on family, as we've known it, and on a biblical worldview. We talk a lot at our church — and we have a large Christian School at Prestonwood — about biblical worldview. … How do you view the world? 

Do you view the world through the lens of Scripture? Or do you view Scripture through the lens of the world? And, of course, we choose to view the world through God's Word. And when you do that, the Bible applies to every life situation.”

According to Graham, the family is the foundation of civilization, divinely ordained to flourish through a biblical perspective.

“People want to know, 'What does the Bible say to my family, to my children, how I raise my kids?' We're seeing this whole movement of deconstruction now. We're seeing young people grow up in Church and then potentially abandon their faith. What we want to do is preventative medicine,” he said.

“I believe the Church right now needs to be on the cutting edge of preventative work in terms of our children, preparing them to answer the big questions that are coming their way, and to equip parents to be able to answer their children's questions so that when their children leave home, they'll have a faith to live by and not to abandon.”

The megachurch pastor told CP that the Church is also “dealing with the question of marriage” like never before, adding: “The Bible is clear on male and female; He created them. So, we're not going to be flying rainbow flags in the church that's reaching families for Christ, because it is an opposition to the Bible.”

“We have to deal with it. We have to give people a reason to believe and a reason to know, but people don't know their Bibles,” he said. “That's why I keep getting back to the Bible. People just don't know what the Bible says. So we go by our feelings, or we go by culture, we go by what our friends are saying, or even maybe what our parents said. We're just trying to get people to open their Bibles and to help explain what the Bible says about all these issues.”

As part of his mission to establish biblical literacy among believers, Graham hosts the “Bible in a Year with Jack Graham” podcast. Currently on its second season, the podcast is designed to bring the Scriptures to life through cinematic storytelling, enhanced by an original soundtrack performed by a 61-piece orchestra.

Though it has its pitfalls, Graham said technology has revolutionized how people engage with Scripture and expanded the reach of the Gospel.

"I've always done media," he explained, reflecting on his journey from radio to television with his PowerPoint Ministries. But the digital era, he said, has opened new horizons. 

With over 50 million downloads, the "Bible in a Year with Jack Graham" podcast has become the No. 1 religious podcast on both Spotify and Apple, and it holds the 14th position among all global podcasts.

“All glory to God,” he said. 

"Initially, I thought a couple hundred thousand downloads would be a success," Graham added. “There's such a hunger for God's Word, and that's the secret of this whole thing. People want to know, what does the Bible actually say? We've heard people talk about what it says, but what does it say?”

Next, Graham and pray.com aim to take this digital ministry further by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), which he said has unlimited potential as over 3 billion people in over 7,000 people groups are unreached by the Gospel. 

"AI can take my voice and turn it into Spanish, French, Hindi and more," he explains. "We aim to reach over 100 million people and then, ultimately, a billion."

He acknowledged the concerns surrounding AI but said he’s optimistic about its potential for spreading the Gospel. "I said to our church pastoral team yesterday, 'Let's reach a billion people with the Gospel of Christ.'"

“There is an extreme interest in the Bible,” Graham said. “The more Satan resists, where sin abounds, grace much more abounds, according to the Scripture, and I just believe that we overcome evil with good. And with all the people wanting to cancel the Bible and check the Bible off, the Bible lives because the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, infallible, indestructible Word of God, and God's Word will prevail over all of its enemies.”

“Don’t be discouraged. We can't quit now, because God is opening doors like we've never seen before.”

Now in his seventh decade of life, Graham said he remains energized and optimistic about using his platform and gifts to fulfill the Great Commission. As Prestonwood Baptist Church continues to grow and adapt to changing times, its commitment to spreading God's Word remains steadfast, he said.

“God's given me an incredible amount of energy and opportunity,” he said. “The Scripture says, ‘Be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord for your labor in the Lord is not in vain.’ So even the smallest act in Jesus' name, the work of the Lord is never in vain. If you're not dead, you're not done. And so we keep going, all of us, because the urgency and the emergency of our times are too important. We keep going. 

I don't intend to ever stop preaching the Gospel. And so as long as God gives me breath, I'll keep doing it.”

Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: leah.klett@christianpost.com