Do most church members know what they actually believe?
No. Very few professing believers have a solid understanding of doctrine, and most church members across denominations, including Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, and Catholic groups, cannot clearly explain what they believe. Many have emotion, hype, and enthusiasm, but that is not enough without grounding in the fundamentals.
Les explains from Paul’s argument that if a speaker comes with many languages but does not speak by revelation, knowledge, prophesying, or doctrine, it profits nothing. Those things count, and people today still need doctrine. Les notes that very few professing believers today have a good, solid understanding of doctrine. He recalls commenting that most Catholics do not really know what they believe after a Catholic listener from Minnesota said it shook her up. He replied that he could have named just about every denomination in America, including his own, and said the same thing. He says to ask a good, solid Methodist, Baptist, or Presbyterian what they really believe, and most cannot tell you much. Paul says even the Corinthians were weak in the fundamentals, though emotional with hype and enthusiasm; that alone is not enough.