All About GOD - Growing Relationships with Jesus and Others
US Nation's Spiritual Decline . . .
According to pollster George Barna, only 9% of Americans have a biblical worldview. But less than ½ of 1% of Americans aged 18-23 have a biblical worldview! (Perhaps this is one reason we are having such a hard time finding young men to live in our evangelism house.) Of those who say they “have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is important in their life today and that they are certain that they will go to Heaven after they die only because they confessed their sins and accepted Christ as their savior,” only 19% hold a biblical worldview.
So what does Barna consider to be a biblical worldview? “A ‘biblical worldview’ was defined as believing that absolute moral truth exists; the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches; Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic; a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do good works; Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today. In the research, anyone who held all of those beliefs was said to have a biblical worldview.”
That certainly is reasonable. So if only 19% of those who consider themselves to be born-again Christians hold to these views, what is happening with the other 81%? Certainly, many are false converts – they think they are saved but really aren’t. The rest, I suppose, are confused by bad teaching or perhaps did not understand the questions that were asked. Of course, it is possible to hold a “biblical worldview” and not be saved.
In another Barna survey, only 51% of Protestant pastors have a biblical worldview. There are many theologically liberal Protestant churches, so I was not surprised to learn that only 27% of United Methodist pastors have a biblical worldview. But only 44% of Pentecostal or charismatic pastors have a biblical worldview! The number is highest with Southern Baptists—but only 71% of them have a biblical worldview. Almost twice as many white senior pastors (55%) have a biblical world view as black senior pastors (30%). That possibly reflects the influence of “liberation theology” (the belief that Jesus came to liberate people from economic oppression) in many black churches.
So what are the doctrinal issues that “born again” Christians have the most difficulty with? Only 53% of “born again” Christians believe that it is “impossible for someone to earn their way into Heaven through good behavior.” How could they get that one wrong? Only 62% of “born again” Christians believe that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life while He was on earth. Certainly, we’re talking about a lot of false converts who think they are saved.
I hope you aren’t too confused by all these statistics. Here is what I think they are saying: First, many of the pastors in evangelical churches, and especially Pentecostal and charismatic churches do not have a biblical worldview. If you attend such a church, most likely you belong somewhere else. Many of those who think they are “born again” Christians are either false converts or confused by poor teaching. Finally, only ½ of 1% of adult Americans between age 18 and 23 have a biblical worldview.
Many of these young adults were raised in evangelical churches. We are losing almost all of them. America is in the process of rapidly becoming a pagan nation – if we do not reach our youth with the true gospel of Jesus Christ. For the past 150 years, we have been sending missionaries to other nations. But we have neglected our own nation. The United States is in danger of becoming even less Christian than the Third World nations that have been the focus of our missionary efforts.
So what does Barna consider to be a biblical worldview? “A ‘biblical worldview’ was defined as believing that absolute moral truth exists; the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches; Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic; a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do good works; Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today. In the research, anyone who held all of those beliefs was said to have a biblical worldview.”
That certainly is reasonable. So if only 19% of those who consider themselves to be born-again Christians hold to these views, what is happening with the other 81%? Certainly, many are false converts – they think they are saved but really aren’t. The rest, I suppose, are confused by bad teaching or perhaps did not understand the questions that were asked. Of course, it is possible to hold a “biblical worldview” and not be saved.
In another Barna survey, only 51% of Protestant pastors have a biblical worldview. There are many theologically liberal Protestant churches, so I was not surprised to learn that only 27% of United Methodist pastors have a biblical worldview. But only 44% of Pentecostal or charismatic pastors have a biblical worldview! The number is highest with Southern Baptists—but only 71% of them have a biblical worldview. Almost twice as many white senior pastors (55%) have a biblical world view as black senior pastors (30%). That possibly reflects the influence of “liberation theology” (the belief that Jesus came to liberate people from economic oppression) in many black churches.
So what are the doctrinal issues that “born again” Christians have the most difficulty with? Only 53% of “born again” Christians believe that it is “impossible for someone to earn their way into Heaven through good behavior.” How could they get that one wrong? Only 62% of “born again” Christians believe that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life while He was on earth. Certainly, we’re talking about a lot of false converts who think they are saved.
I hope you aren’t too confused by all these statistics. Here is what I think they are saying: First, many of the pastors in evangelical churches, and especially Pentecostal and charismatic churches do not have a biblical worldview. If you attend such a church, most likely you belong somewhere else. Many of those who think they are “born again” Christians are either false converts or confused by poor teaching. Finally, only ½ of 1% of adult Americans between age 18 and 23 have a biblical worldview.
Many of these young adults were raised in evangelical churches. We are losing almost all of them. America is in the process of rapidly becoming a pagan nation – if we do not reach our youth with the true gospel of Jesus Christ. For the past 150 years, we have been sending missionaries to other nations. But we have neglected our own nation. The United States is in danger of becoming even less Christian than the Third World nations that have been the focus of our missionary efforts.
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Comment
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Comment by Peter TAN on March 2, 2010 at 8:27pm
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From the nation of my birth, Singapore (being called the Antioch of Asia) is also guarding ourselves and our younger generations, especially the youths and the younger Christians and leaders of such a danger . . .
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