Well maybe you should play this game so you can feel good about yourself!
Oops, I almost forgot to close my formatting: < /sarcasm>
Posted on 01/16/2007 8:00:22 AM PST by cowboyfan88
You would think that all Christians have a biblical view of the world around them. After all, we go to church, we’re a part of a small group, we’ve read The Purpose-Driven Life. Are you ready for a reality check? The research says just the opposite. Most Christians do not have a biblical worldview.
Author and researcher George Barna made waves by citing statistics that show just 9 percent of all adults in America who claim to be “born again” have a biblical worldview. You didn’t read that incorrectly—it was 9 percent. Protestants as a whole could only manage 7 percent with a biblical worldview (The Barna Research Group, January 12, 2004).
But that can’t be possible, can it? How could only 9 percent of born again adults view the world with a biblical focus? Let me make a few observations.
Bible illiteracy is rampant in the church
Like it or not, it’s time we faced up to the fact that we Christians are blatantly biblically illiterate. We don’t know the Bible nearly as well as we think we do.
To say that Bible illiteracy is rampant in America is black eye for a nation that thinks of itself as Christian. Sixty-five percent of Americans agree that the Bible "answers all or most of the basic questions of life." Amazingly, 28% of Americans who believe the Bible “answers all or most of the basic questions of life” say they rarely or never read the Bible (The Gallup Organization, October 20, 2000). Therein lies the problem.
But that’s the American public. What about the American church? Surely we aren’t as biblically illiterate as our unchurched neighbor? Don’t count on it.
Among those individuals who are associated with the Christian faith, only half (50%) rate themselves as being “absolutely committed” to the Christian faith (Barna Research Group, March 19, 2004). This lack of commitment to the faith often stems from a lack of commitment to the Word of God, the foundation for our faith.
In 2004, 16% of all adults agreed somewhat that the Bible is totally accurate in all of its teachings compared with 19% in 2002 and 25% in 1991. Still, 12 percent of born again Christians disagree that the Bible is totally accurate in all of its teachings (Barna Research Group, “The Bible,” 2004).
This innate mistrust of the Bible has resulted in millions of people owning Bibles but very few reading or believing them. The percentage of frequent readers, those who read the Bible at least once a week, has decreased from 40% in 1990 to 37% today. Only one American in seven reports an involvement with the Bible that goes beyond reading it (The Gallup Organization, October 20, 2000). The “born again” segment of the population fares only slightly better.
But with more programs, more 40-day adventures, more training in leadership skills, surely today’s pastors are better equipped than ever before to help their people out of the quagmire of Bible illiteracy. You’d think.
Pastors often do not themselves hold biblical worldviews.
Isaiah 56:11 makes reference to “shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way . . . .” We have to be careful not to generalize here because there are many fine men of God who are concerned about their people’s understanding of the Word. Still, an increasing number “look to their own way,” or if not their own way, the way of the latest hot book on church growth.
Based on interviews with 601 Senior Pastors nationwide, representing a random cross-section of Protestant churches, Barna reports that only half of the country’s Protestant pastors – 51% - have a biblical worldview (Barna Research Group, January 12, 2004).
George Barna argued, “The low percentage of Christians who have a biblical worldview is a direct reflection of the fact that half of our primary religious teachers and leaders (senior pastors) do not have one.”
In some denominations, the vast majority of clergy do not have a biblical worldview, and it shows up clearly in the data related to the theological views and moral choices of people who attend those churches” (Barna Research Group, January 12, 2004).
The result of Bible illiteracy is theological heterodoxy.
Heterodoxy is just a big word for whacky theology. Because people in the pews don’t know their Bibles very well, and because the pastor feels constrained to preach so as not to offend the mixed multitude attending church on Sunday morning, born-again adults are beginning to formulate some beliefs and practices that are anything but biblical.
George Barna says that Americans willingly “embrace beliefs that are logically contradictory and their preference for blending different faith views together create unorthodox religious viewpoints.”
Consider these findings:
n Among born again Christians, 10% believe that people are reincarnated after death.
n Among born again Christians, 29% claim it is possible to communicate with the dead.
n Fifty percent of born again Christians contend that a person can earn salvation based upon good works (Barna Research Group, October 21, 2003).
Don’t miss this. We are not talking about the beliefs of Americans here. We aren’t even talking about the beliefs of churched Americans. We are talking about “born-again, churched Americans.” These are things believed by the people who sat in the pew next to you last Sunday.
4. Biblical illiteracy that leads to theological heterodoxy always leads to moral frailty.
Those who have a biblical worldview also hold to biblical concepts and standards for living. Here’s the proof.
n Less than one-half of one percent of those with a biblical worldview said voluntary exposure to pornography was morally acceptable (compared to 39% of other adults).
n Those people with a biblical worldview were eight times less likely to buy lottery tickets and 17 times less likely to place bets than those who did not have a biblical worldview.
n While one out of every eight adults who lack a biblical worldview had sexual relations with someone other than their spouse during the prior month, less than one out of every 100 individuals who have such a worldview had done so (Barna Research Group, December 1, 2003).
Obviously knowing the Bible well impacts living with a biblical worldview and vice versa.
Follow the progression. We read our Bibles less and therefore understand less biblical truth. We attend a church where biblical truth was once the hallmark of the pulpit, but today the pulpit has been removed and we are fed a steady diet of spiritual gummy bears, more taste—less filling.
As a dumbed-down church we look for a belief system that matches others who have come into the church or those we read or watch on Christian television or hear on Christian radio.
We are so biblically ignorant we don’t even know that we’ve adopted beliefs that are much closer to Eastern mysticism than Christian orthodoxy. As a result, even though we are proudly part of the “born again” segment of Christianity, we hold a worldview that is no more biblical than our non-churched neighbor.
Does that hurt? It should. The truth often hurts. But we cannot correct the flaws in our worldview until we admit those flaws exist. And do they ever exist!
In future articles we’ll address what you can do if you feel your worldview weakening. For now, get back to the Bible and you’ll start to reverse the progression toward moral malaise.
Well maybe you should play this game so you can feel good about yourself!
Oops, I almost forgot to close my formatting: < /sarcasm>
I don't have a worldview...I have a 'heaven' view...You can sail the ship...I'm enjoying the cruise by sitting in the lifeboat...
This a a Spiritual Kingdom...
Joh 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
And THAT Kindom won't show up until Jesus shows up AGAIN...Because He is the King of that Kingdom and He WILL sit on the Throne of that Kingdom when it gets here...And THAT Kindgom is not here, yet...
That's a pity, since your orientation means you need to ignore more than 90% of the Bible. Only a handful of verses speak of the life to come. Most of God's Word is an instruction manual for this life.
The problem with reducing your Christianity to a scale model of the real thing, small enough to fit between your ears, is that this perspective renders you unfit for Kingdom service, for carrying out the King's assignments, for His glory.
What you are advocating is emotional masturbation, not condign adoration of and service to the One who reigns today from the Father's right hand.
Whatever floats yer boat...
The Bible I read is about a King...And a Kingdom...And how to prepare us for that Kingdom...
Yep...God wants educated people like you to study an old, dead language that He hasn't messed with for 2000 years so you have some idea what God has to say...You go ahead and keep believing that (snicker)...
;-) back at ya!
"Among born again Christians, 29% claim it is possible to communicate with the dead."
They're right, it IS possible.
But it's not a good, wholesome or wise thing to do.
Because when you open yourself up to that sort of thing, someone may very well talk to you, but it may very well not be someone dead at all, but someone of an altogether different nature.
Trafficking in spirits is a bad idea. Now, angels or spirits of the dead may come and knock YOU on the head for some good purpose. But if you go looking to drag them up from the grave, well, you're asking for it. The Biblical story of Saul gives an example. He DID talk to the dead, in the story, but it didn't work out so well for him.
If you see the dead, which happens, you see them. But don't conjure them. For who knows what you're really conjuring.
Jesus said, "I have not come do abolish the Law, but to fulfill it."
No, I don't adhere to the Ceremonial Law, etc. But, you can't understand the Gospel without understanding Genesis 3. You can't understand marriage without Genesis 1 and 2. And so on...New Testament doctrine cannot be understood apart from an understanding of the Old Testament...and particularly, the Book of Genesis.
"The woman he referred to didn't have wacky ideas because she's female."
No, she had wacky ideas as soon as she thought that it was Biblical to be a female pastor.
He's mischaracterized nothing. It may not be representative of your particular flavor of dispensationalism, but it is in fact representative of a expression of dispensationalism that is not uncommon.
This is a very important distinction. For an interesting exercise, check out this "Worldview Test". According to this test, I am a bad Christian who has admittedly good theological sophistication. The problem is that its worldview is a particular shade of Evangelical Christianity and right-wing republicanism. If you're at all libertarian or populist, you have a "non-Christian worldview." Similarly, if you are at all dubious of a 7,000 literal reading of Genesis, you are a bad Christian.
I have a pretty wide range of friends and acquaintances. And I read and study quite widely. From seminary, 30 years ago, until now, most of my associates share my "particular flavor of dispensationalism." Maybe my "flavor" is not that unusual.
While I agree that an understanding of the Old Testament will help one understand the New Testament, I do not agree that we can use the Old Testament as authority for doctrine in the church of Christ. As Christ said, He came to fulfill the Law. Once it was fulfilled, it was no longer binding (Galatians 3:24-25). Paul also tells us that the writings of the Old Testament "were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope" (Romans 15:4).
Funny, I scored a 96%!
Sure we do...our understanding of the nature of God depends, in large part, upon His self-revelation in the OT. The Cultural Mandate to be fruitful and multiply and fill the Earth has never been abrogated. I think you would be surprised to discover that a lot of our doctrine comes from the OT.
Remember, "doctrine" is what we teach. 2 Tim 3:16-17, "ALL" scripture is inspired by God, and is profitable for teaching [doctrine], reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. And Paul said that he did not fail to teach the "whole counsel" of God...his Scriptures were the OT. We are not subject to the ceremonial laws, but the rest still applies.
Don't discount the OT too quickly.
I am not discounting the Old Testament. I may not have worded what I was trying to say as well as I should have. Let me see if I can explain what I am saying. When we have clear teaching on a subject in the New Testament, that is our authority on that subject.
Your classification is: Strong Biblical Worldview Thinker
I got an 89%, apparantly my lack of disdain for the lottery and my belief that all graduating high school students should have to pass a standarized test husts my biblical world view.
I guess some Catholics might just know what the Bible says after all....
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