When Their "Gist" Is Just Wrong

“I came to the comments to get the gist of it without reading it.”

That was posted within a Facebook discussion group I belong to.

In response to an article I had written and shared.

I admit that it kind of got under my skin, especially since most of the other comments there had been dismissive or didn’t seem to be really responding to what I’d written. And I was tempted to respond and ask, “How can you know you got the gist of something you didn’t actually read?” 

But I thought better of it, and I reminded myself not to take it personally. This kind of thing is, after all, the risk you take when you put stuff “out there” on the internet and social media.

Later, however, I was thinking about that comment and was struck by how similar it is to so many people’s approach to the Christian faith and Scripture: they have only exposed themselves to what other people have to say, and yet they feel that that has given them “the gist” of what the Bible teaches and we believe.

But that’s hardly the case. One big problem with that approach is bias: quite often their “gist” comes almost entirely from critics of Christianity and takes an overall negative view of biblical teaching.

And even if they’re not dealing with bad data, what they get and base their views on is at best a tiny sample, usually out of context, of what faithful Christians believe. In fact, the picture they paint is always going to be incomplete — not just because it leaves out a great deal of important information but also because, as unbelievers, they approach Scripture with spiritual blinders on. 

“An unspiritual person does not accept the truths taught by God’s Spirit, because they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually evaluated.” (1 Corinthians 2:14, EHV)

Now, to a certain extent, it should get under every believer’s skin when someone who is not a follower of Christ says, “This is what your religion is all about” or “This is what the Bible really says” and they get it insultingly wrong. Falsehoods, especially where the things of God are concerned, rightly disturb God’s people, who love truth and hate lies, just as he does, and who also don’t want to see anything obscure the message of salvation for sinners at the heart of Scripture’s teaching.

But we should be surprised neither when people, especially skeptics, get wrong the things that matter most nor when the Bible and its teachings are met with negativity. Jesus told us to expect opposition to the gospel, even persecution of those who preach, teach, and believe it. These warnings are all through the New Testament.

We might even sympathize with these “gisters” to some extent. In addition to being spiritually incapable of understanding everything, there is also the fact that our education systems today generally teach little or nothing about the content of Christianity, even in terms of how it has impacted history and culture. So, frankly, we should be more surprised by an unbeliever who gets things about the Christian message right than by one who gets them wrong. 

Yet more and more it’s not just people outside the church who think they’ve got “the gist” of the faith and don’t. Between false teaching from pastors and professors, viral ignorance from social media posts and reels, and churches and parents that have set aside teaching children (and adults) anything more than “the basics”, there are lots of Christians who “know” things about the faith or Scripture that just aren’t true or who know so little that they can’t recognize errors when they encounter them.

Still, even believers who have a deeper knowledge of the Bible and a better grasp of doctrine can find themselves frustrated when they encounter someone whose “gist” just seems wrong, but they can’t easily identify how or why. It might be an “Everything about what you just said is incorrect”, a “Much of what you say sounds right, but there’s a fundamental flaw”, or an “I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I’m sure what you’re so sure of just isn’t so” situation, but shock or confusion can make it hard to nail the errors down. And just getting upset or walking away doesn’t do anyone any good.

Happily, there’s a pretty easy test for whether someone’s summary of the Christian faith at least gets the basics right: does it get anywhere close to the Apostles or Nicene Creeds? If not, this reveals either ignorance on their part or a deliberate decision to discount the most accurate testimony there is as to what Christians believe and teach: their own confessions, which believers have considered “the gist” and standard of their faith since the first centuries after Christ. 

It’s telling how rare it is that the critical claims or explanations that come from those outside the faith line up with these most basic summaries of what Christians believe and the Bible teaches (and shameful how many people “inside” the faith also fail this test). And we’re not even talking about deeper questions like, “How is anyone converted or saved?” or topics like baptism and eschatology (the “last things”, e.g., death, heaven and hell, the end of the world).

Of course, if pressed, the “gister” might simply insist that his or her view is the correct one and that you, as a Christian, are the ignorant one, not knowing what your Bible really teaches or your church really believes. Even if said without arrogance or condescension, such a statement would demand evidence to support it — the burden of proof is on the one making such a claim — and this is where the shallowness of their knowledge is usually  revealed.

Because “this thing someone else said that sounded good to me but I didn’t bother verifying” doesn’t count as evidence. They’ve adopted views that allow them to dismiss the truth of Christianity but haven’t truly examined any of what they’re dismissing. If they had, they would at least have discovered that the ideas they think are modern and progressive are old news—all their criticisms have been answered time and again, for generations and centuries. An honest and open look at the Bible and Christian teaching might not convert them, but at least they would understand that their earlier objections and arguments were founded much more in antipathy and ignorance than in fact.

Which should, ideally, lead us to recognize the opportunity behind others’ errors about our faith. This is especially the case if they “opened the can of worms” first with their “gists” about what we believe. This means you get to talk with them about the heart of the gospel, Scripture, and Jesus Christ right from the start—it was their idea, it’s already the topic at hand, and it’s exactly what you most love to talk about.

I probably don’t have to explain why getting angry or worked up, tossing insults or storming off is not likely to start a productive conversation. But if you approach it wisely and winsomely, almost any erroneous — or upsetting — claim about the Bible or Christianity can be turned into an opening. Imagine the skeptic’s surprise when you say something like: “Well, I appreciate that you’re giving this so much thought. This is important stuff. You probably know already that I won’t agree with some of what you’re claiming. Would you object if I explained why?”

So there’s a lesson for us when anyone’s gist is just wrong about what the Bible teaches and Christians believe: we have work ahead of us. Maybe it’s an uncomfortable conversation in that moment, research we have to do to make sure we’ve got our own facts straight, or inviting a skeptic to study the Bible with us. Perhaps it’s that we have to do a better job teaching children and less mature believers more about what we believe and why. 

Appreciate that you have more influence and more opportunities than it feels or seems; God is in the habit of giving these things to his witnesses, which all Christians are. So keep on studying the Scriptures. Observe unbelievers and listen to what they actually say. Adjust your expectations. Look for openings. Choose your battles. Stand your ground whenever and wherever the truth is at stake, but remember you don’t have to attack first—just be ready.

And pray—not just for wisdom, strength, and courage, but just as much for opportunities. You may be gist the person God uses to tell a lost and confused sinner about his or her Savior.