This is very alarming. I know that many people say that statistics can say whatever you want them to say, but I think that these statistics are showing that there is something that needs to serious looking at. I have come to see (being a worker in ministry) that many times we are not as intentional in true discipleship as we could be I have struggled with this over the past couple of years in ministry places that I've been. We see the evidence that what we're trying isn't getting the message across... so what are we going to do about it?

I wonder, when Barna calls churches to do a better job in Christian education, if he means churches as most people know them, or his proposal in his book Revolutionaries of a more house-church model. I could see a move to more house-churches giving people more incentive to have a "church" just with people like themselves, which is one of the big reasons that there is such a low level of "biblical worldview" among young people. By segregating, by age, education in churches and pawning off theological education of children to youth leaders, adults and the churches they attend have forfeited any meaningful impact they can have on the lives of those younger than them.

Solutions? How about suggestions

1) Parents, start to take responsibility for your God-given role as the persons charged with educating your children in the God's word and coming alongside your children as they learn to walk with God
2) Pastors, do away with age-graded Sunday School classes. Encourage the mixing of the ages. Foster mentoring relationships between generations
3) Churches, be different. Don't fall prey to every fad in the world. Be distinctive for God calls you to be distinctive and embrace your uniqueness.
4) Everyone, read your bible. Read it daily. Read it nightly. Seek after God's word with the passion you normally reserve for TV, Facebook, Wii, texting, sports, and school. When God's people give His Word the position in their lives that it deserves, lives are changed and God is glorified.

This isn't surprising to me, but it's still alarming. One thing Barna does not cite as a reason for the problem is the steady erosion of "preaching as proclamation". If we aren't preaching it, then we should not be surprised that they aren't getting it.

I don't think bad preaching is the only reason, but it's certainly a big part of the problem.

BTW- I didn't see a link in the post to the Barna article... Here it is: http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/252-barna-survey-examines-changes-in-worldview-among-christians-over-the-past-13-years

Hey Ed, this is a little off topic--sorry, but recently there was an article about the top 10 unhappiest cities and today in USA Today an article about denominations losing ground. Is there a link between the top 10 unhappiest cities and % of unchurched population? If any one could answer this you would be the man. Thanks, Mike

P.S. I did really enjoy our time together at the BCMD convention sorry for working you over like a race horse--but then again you are a thoroughbred. :)

No surprises here. Our collective ears are growing more deaf to the gospel with each passing year. For those who believe in full biblical authority, I'd say this data affirms Jesus' teaching in Matthew 7, particularly vs 21-23. For those who reject biblical authority, life on earth continues as it has barring another Great Awakening or Jesus second coming to the earth.

I agree with Don. This is not surprising at all. I teach an 11th grade worldview class at a Christian high school in Alabama, and most of my students come from church-going homes. But at the beginning of every year, there are only two or three that hold to Barna's criterion for a biblical wordlview (which IMO is pretty minimal).

One cannot change the worldview of people until they first understand the person's current worldview. I am a very young pastor (24). Much of the leadership in our churches today are much older than I, and for that reason have a completely different worldview than does my age group.
This does not make either worldview more important, it just means they are different. In order to bring my generation in line with a biblical worldview, older generations have to understand the differences between the two paradigms.
The most common misconception is that my generation (the 20 somthings) doesn't care anything for God, much less religion. This, however, is not the case at all. They care a lot about "religious" things, they just refuse to put all their eggs in one basket and proclaim that basket the "truth."
The other huuge difference that is a problem in bringing them in line with a biblical worldview is moral relativism. Most of my generation espouses relativist maxims, but don't actually follow them to the logical end in their own lives. The point is that they say there is no moral absolutes, but when you press them hard enough they see there are moral absolutes. I have found that without an understanding of absolute truth and absolute morals, they cannot come in line to a true biblical worldview.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-03-09-ARIS-faith-survey_N.htm

this is off subject so I will not comment on it here. But it is related, I think. Check it out.

Barna also points out that there are something like 15 million EVANGELICAL born-again adults in the U.S.--but something like 70 million NON-EVANGELICAL born-again adults in the U.S. (isn't it terribly unfair that God didn't place ANY evangelical born-again adults in any other denomination but the SBC, with its 16 million members? . . . joke)?

Whatever accounts for all the current numbers mentioned, while there's time it appears that evangelical believers will need to partner with each other despite our denominations to disciple non-evangelical ones and to reach the other 125 million American adults who are without Christ as Savior.

Let's get started, folks!

David Troublefield
Minister of Education
Lamar Baptist Church
Wichita Falls, TX
david@lbcwf.org

Thanks, Ben, we added that link.

I like the parenting focus in several of the comments. I agree with them.

I would also add that undiscipled parents abound and often need to be discipled themselves.

Ed

I really believe that the church in America is becoming an institution with very little relevance. Using the biblical terms, it is losing its saltiness and becoming "useless." Unless something dramatic happens and the church becomes awake it will not alter its course and become irrelevant. My proof? it's based on what I read here and elsewhere. I think the hope its in the Third World churches. They are alive and growing and will bring an awakening to America. Some day!

Something bothers me about Barna's review of the stats.
Starting with this quote:
"First, although most Americans consider themselves to be Christian and say they know the content of the Bible, less than one out of ten Americans demonstrate such knowledge through their actions."

I'm assuming the 'less than one out of ten' he is referring to are the 9% that answered the questions 'correctly', but I fail to see how answering questions in a certain way is considered demonstrating their knowledge through actions.

He also seems to be saying that these five principles are obviously what is taught in the Bible and have been for the history of the Church. I guess I didn't see these kinds of statements in the earliest creeds and wonder what makes them the taste test now. I agree that discipleship needs some reform in our churches but I'm not sure these statistics have shown us much except that Christians do not all follow Barna's theology.

Edgar G:

It seems clear that yes the institutional church is losing its power in the US but I have to say that this does not mean that the church will be irrelevant or lose its saltiness. The church in the Third World is might just be thriving because of their lack of institutionalism.

I was referred to a sermon recently preached by Chuck Kelley, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. In this sermon, he mainly addressed the problem of evangelism in our denomination (Southern Baptist), but a byproduct in his message is that we are not discipling the members we already have.

So, in effect, he says that we aren't winning new converts and we aren't training the ones we have. So if we are not training them, how can we expect them to have a biblical worldview--much less pass it on to their children?

I just read this today and it goes along with my previous post http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0310/p09s01-coop.html

I read the CSM article and found it very point on in several regards. One of those is the evangelical involvement in culture war and politics. Too many have taken up a cause instead of the faith. They can tell you stats on abortions, but can't give you a basic explanation of the incarnation, or share the gospel at all.

After seeing some of the things arising in the SBC I personally think we will see a fracturing of the convention in 10 to 15 years, maybe sooner. I think the SBC will break into three smaller denominations, and of course this will not happen at the same time. The first to break away will be the Reformed Churches. They will grow tired of constant attacks and misrepresentations and will break away officially. This could be a significant number.
The second group will be charismatic Baptists. This will be a smaller group.

Then there will be the traditional (or modern traditional)Southern Baptist. This will be the largest group.

This is just pure observation, a guess, not a hope. Anyone else see that same possibility?

We are pretty much a country that no longer knows how to even disciple our own children, let alone anyone else. It's very sad!!

The christianity that exists in the U.S. is now is very luke warm at best. It shows in our churches, our christian schools, and in many of the lives of those who are in ministry.

Unfortunately, christianity has become an institution or a business for many of us. Except for the remnant of God, christianity in the U.S. is no longer a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Revelation 3:2 says to strengthen those things that remain, before they die. It says to go back to what you first believed. That's good advice to for us today.

It sometimes scares me to see how many people have fallen for the "relative truth" movement. And that's the key: how can anyone have a Biblical worldview when we are taught that there are no absolute moral truths? If truth is relative, then the Ten Commandments (God's Moral Law) are useless. Murder, lying, adultery, theft, disrespect for God and parents, envy...none of it is "wrong." If nothing is "wrong" then people don't (and can't) understand the need for a Savior.

As usual, Barna takes the same approach--asks leading questions in order to get the answers he is looking for and then he'll write another book to sell. Having studied sociology, I find his methodology and assumptions highly questionable.

I've been in house churches--open to far more serious abuses than traditional churches.
Evangelicalism has sold its soul to entertainment and numbers.

I'm still in an evangelical church, but I find the Orthodox and Catholic churches are far closer to the truth than most evangelicals.

Looking at American Christianity from a Canadian perspective, would it be wrong to suggest this loss of faith, or at least a 'world religious perspective', can be tied to America's loss of honour and commitment to human rights in its war on terror? George W. Bush certainly did not set any such standard as a Christian in his 8 years as President, and before that Bill Clinton certainly did not set any moral standards--and look how popular he still is!. If the leader of your country doesn't follow it in their own lives and decisions, and are often hypocritical about it, what then are the American public led to believe? (Our Canadian prime ministers, I might add, aren't any better.) Getting the 'so-called religious right' so involved in U.S. politics has obviously backfired on it so that the separation of church and state may be the correct practice. The focus should be on the Gospel, on the ministry of Jesus, on strengthening all our faiths, and by that moral and spiritual strength change the world -- and not politicians whose primary goal is to get re-elected any way they can.

I am not suprised by these statistics, considering the times we are living in. The beast system has been with us for many years, and is now beginning to emerge, coming increasingly out into the open. I expect that "the mark" spoken of in Revelation 13 verses 16 and 17 will be revealed within the next few years to the next few decades, but I believe probably sooner than later.

Most Christians attend churches tied into this system via church incorporation. Most Christians are tied into the system via birth certificate, driver's license, marriage license, and most importantly social security number. It is time to wake up and smell the coffee. To see what one man's struggle is as he attempts to live as a Christian should, without these tie-ins to the beast system, go to [edited}.

Pete

Pete,

Since your comment seems to exist only to point people to your website, I have edited it out.

Let me suggest that you draw people to your site with a compelling argument rather than with comments on blogs that have little to do with the topic but always end with your website.

Ed

Doesn't scripture tell us about a coming time, when a judgment of sinners BEGINS WITH GOD'S HOUSEHOLD?

So, why even be a "christian"? Why not be what "believers" were called before they were first called "christians"?

Biblical Worldview?
As long as the church teaches we are no longer "under" The Law God gave Moses at Mt Siani what do you expect? The NT wihout the OT is absoulty worthtlss as all the writers draw room that Law! Yet we say we believe in the moral views in the Bible-we cannot because they're given in "The Law" and our Constitution is formed from The Law we'er no longer under-hypocracy, having your cake and eating it too! Blind lead the blind they'el both fall into the ditch.

Is there an instrument that we can use in a local church to find out if our people have a Biblical world view? If so, where can I get it?

After reading Barna's survey and his outline of "troubling patters," I make the following observations: 1) The public school system has succeeded in brainwashing America's children.
2) Churches need to plant more churches.
3) American Christians need to pray for an outpouring of the Spirit where the "new birth" is evidenced in a new life.
4) Christians need to unplug the T.V., the Wii, and boycott other forms of "innocent entertainment" that robs them of a knowledge of God and His Word.
5) Christian parents must become radically proactive if they want to avoid national destruction.

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children." (Hosea 4:6, NASB)

Greetings, I often wonder when I read articles like this about the validity of the % of born-agains. After reading what they believe or don't believe I wonder how many are truly regenerated. So many seeem to not believe in things that I had a grasp on shortly after salvation and I'm no rocket scientist. But I did have the Holy Spirit to reveal things to me, if one is not regenerated they don't have a clue 1Cor 2:14.