Why can't most church members explain what they believe?
Most church members cannot explain what they believe because they have not been taught. Churches have failed to instruct their people, leaving the average Catholic, Episcopalian, Baptist, Methodist, and others unable to say what they believe. Believers are meant to be well-taught and well read in the Scriptures.
Les explains that the church, generally speaking, has failed miserably because it has not taught its people. He maintains that if you ask the average Roman Catholic, Episcopalian, Baptist, Methodist, or those from Timbuktu what they believe, most cannot tell you what they really believe. The reason is simple: nobody teaches them. Paul is driving home that believers are to be a well-taught people and should be well read in the Scriptures. He does not want believers to be untaught or ignorant, particularly concerning the mystery, or secret, that God had kept in His own mind until He revealed it to the Apostle Paul.