Posted on 08/12/2014 2:00:33 PM PDT by Faith Presses On
Most pastors believe that the Bible addresses the current issues of the day, but few speak about them from behind the pulpit, according to a recent study from a prominent research organization.
George Barna was a guest on the American Family Radio program “Today’s Issues” on Thursday, where he explained a research project that he has been working on for the past two years. In his study, Barna’s organization asked pastors across the country about their beliefs regarding the relevancy of Scripture to societal, moral and political issues, and the content of their sermons in light of their beliefs.
“‘What we’re finding is that when we ask them about all the key issues of the day, [90 percent of them are] telling us, ‘Yes, the Bible speaks to every one of these issues,” he explained. “Then we ask them: ‘Well, are you teaching your people what the Bible says about those issues?’ and the numbers drop…to less than 10 percent of pastors who say they will speak to it.”
Barna’s group also polled pastors about what factors they use to gauge whether or not a church is successful.
(Excerpt) Read more at christiannews.net ...
Ouch.
Speaking out on the issues will make a church smaller. Pastors don’t get hired by churches to make them smaller.
Who pays the piper calls the tune. Nobody wants to insult their sugar daddy.
The size of church shouldn’t matter nearly as much as telling the truth!
It depends on the church. If your pastor won’t speak out on what the church teaches about sin and issues that affect our lives and the world then find another church and pastor.
bttt
LBJ raises his ugly head from the grave. He’s the one who bribed churches, saying they could receive donations tax-free, but in return they have to sit down and shut up and not do any electioneering. A lot of cowardly pastors take that to mean that they’re to not speak about social (aka moral) issues or risk their tax status with the IRS. Other cowardly pastors refuse to speak about moral issues because they’re afraid they’ll lose the donations of parishioners who might take offense at what the Bible teaches.
Chuck Baldwin has the right idea with his Liberty Church project. He’s trying to convince churches to forgo the bribe so churches will no longer be beholden to the government and no longer be in a master/slave arrangement.
We have done that twice in 3 years. I give them about 6 months to a year and if I don’t hear anything but prosperity gospel we move on.
If the pastor gets hired by the congregation, he’ll do what they want and not what God wants.
It’s Biblical.
Barna is correct. Our weaselly cowardly “conservative” pastors rarely speak about the sins of extramarital sex, abortion and homosexuality.
The tax code is not to blame for this squishy seeker-friendly avoidance of sin and damnation. So long as a pastor does not endorse a political candidate, he won’t get hammered by the IRS for simply talking Ten Commandments.
Truth is, modern-day congregations don’t like talk about sin. Too many skimpily dressed chicks and slackers in the congregation are playing house and have abortions, divorces and homosexual best friends. They’ll walk out if the pastor frowns at them the wrong way.
Hard to preach about sin and keep a big church.
church pastors should have all the free speech that anyone else has.
He talked about EVERYTHING else wrong in life but avoided those issues because he would have been RUN OUT OF TOWN if he condemned what was "common practice" and thereby, for some reason, acceptable.
Catholics have a reading from the Old and then one (weekdays) or two (Sundays) from the New Testament. The Gospel is always the last reading. There is a three-year cycle of readings, then a repeat. We DO get to know those readings. The Word of God doesn't change; it's SUPPOSED to change us.
The subject of those readings is always (I believe) SIN. If the pastor is preaching The Word, then HOW can he avoid talking about sin?
Speaking out on the issues may cost you the IRS exemption in this day and age.
That sounds reasonable. But even with today’s political restrictions, a pastor or minister still has plenty of room to talk about good old-fashioned sin. He just doesn’t want to.
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