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Barna Group Releases New Study

The Barna Group has done a new study and published what it says are the six biggest trends in American churches today:

1. The Christian Church is becoming less theologically literate.
2. Christians are becoming more ingrown and less outreach-oriented.
3. Growing numbers of people are less interested in spiritual principles and more desirous of learning pragmatic solutions for life.
4. Among Christians, interest in participating in community action is escalating.
5. The postmodern insistence on tolerance is winning over the Christian Church.
6. The influence of Christianity on culture and individual lives is largely invisible.

At first glance these results might seem pessimistic. Barna’s polls are often thought of casting a long shadow over the contemporary church culture. To dismiss it as negative or simply to cry in our soup are wrong responses. This information, like so many seemingly dire Old Testament prophecies, is only bad if we choose to ignore it. Like any medicine, it may be the best thing for us if we can just get past the taste of it.

Item 1: The Christian Church is becoming less theologically literate. Like so many other things our culture, there’s an effort underway to dumb down the gospel along with most biblical teaching to reach the masses with the simplest and most appealing messages possible. Dumb people are easier to control. The problem is that people are not really dumb. The church should be a resource for truth, wisdom, and discipleship. Sunday morning services so often come down to some moral lecture, some entertainment, some emotional stir, and some exchange of money for guilt. People naturally want to alleviate their guilt and get a nice emotional boost for their weekly contribution, assuming they even make that much of a commitment. To garner more involvement many churches act like marketing agencies instead of houses of worship and truth. Is it any wonder the church as a whole is less theologically literate? What can we do? Become the disciples we are called to be and encourage genuine spiritual growth. Quit pandering and start providing meat at the spiritual table.

Item 2: Christians are becoming more ingrown and less outreach-oriented. Just before leaving the disciples, Jesus gave them some pretty simple instructions. Go. Tell. Make disciples. The role of the one who follows Christ is chiefly to be missional. The church body is the bride of Christ. To join with a local congregation is important. Each of us who is regenerated is also gifted in some way. The Holy Spirit gifts us in ways designed to enable us to work together as the corporate bride to serve our groom-Lord, Jesus. Jesus is always interested in serving and bringing truth to others. The church, as body, bride and servant, exists to bring the truth of Christ to others and to be a source of hope to hurting world around it. This study shows that much of the contemporary church is becoming less mission oriented and more self-interested. The opportunity we have is to see this for what it is, to repent, and to become the hands and feet of the one who came to save us from our own destruction.

Item 3: Growing numbers of people are becoming less interested in spiritual principles and more desirous of learning pragmatic solutions for life. This item follows closely in the footsteps of Item 1. We live in a society that seeks rationality. Intellect is valued more than mysticism. The supernatural is dismissed as the unusual or worse, the unreal. The church retains the appearance of godliness, but lacks power. People don’t want to confront sin and be changed into servants of the Most High God. People want to be served, to have their sin ignored, and to be comfortable in their prosperity. Spiritual truth requires of us what we least want to surrender. Until the truth is preached from the pulpit and taught in the Sunday School classes and pursued in the rest of our group and personal religious activities we will miss this mark.

Item 4: Among Christians, interest in participating in community action is escalating. At first glance this sounds like a contradiction to Item 2. How can a church that is less outreach oriented also be escalating in its participation in community action? Simple. Outreach and community action are not the same thing. Not even close. In fact, in critical ways outreach and community action are at odds. Community action is a function of self interest, though it is often cloaked in the guise of concern for others. Community action is about imposing beliefs, morality, and rules on society. At best community action does good works of the law. At worst it imposes the political and social dogma of the church on its surrounding community. If this dogma were truly virtuous it might be admired, but the dogma of the typical church and the doctrine of Jesus Christ are not nearly so well aligned as we would like to imagine. It is easy to be a “good Christian” by handing out food, repairing an elderly person’s home, or by attending a political rally promoting positive values. These things are not bad, but when Jesus is stripped out we are left with a painted shell. The world sees through the guise and is disgusted by it. When will we see through it, too?

Item 5: The postmodern insistence on tolerance is winning over the Christian church. The popular notion of tolerance says we should all live and let live. It does not require one truth to be more true than any other. It reduces truth to personal or group reality. Truth ceases to be objective and applicable to all. The influence of the world is strong on the church. The notion of tolerance is supposed to deter fighting and encourage inclusion. What then do you do with a faith which is exclusive? Jesus never said follow him or whoever else will make you feel good. He never said anything goes. He never said all truth is equal and relative. Tolerance for the Christian usually means we compromise the objective truth that Jesus Christ is Lord, that God is Creator, and that good and evil are clear and objective. To the world, tolerance means any view other than the exclusive objective absolutes of Christ are to be tolerated, but the name of Jesus Christ is not to be tolerated. When we see this and stand firm on the solid rock of Christ we may begin to reclaim objective truth. Jesus said that when we deny him, he will deny us. Do we dare compromise?

Item 6: The influence of Christianity on culture and individual lives is largely invisible. After analyzing the other results, how can this last point be a surprise? Our foundation has lost its depth. Our faithful bedrock has slowly been replaced by sand. We have gone from missions to naval gazing. We seek worldly prosperity rather than eternal life. We put up neon signs to tell the world how great we are when under the sign they see the bordello for what it is. After all, what else is it but whoredom when we give up our purity to receive the money and pleasure of the world? After all, can we not tone down the Jesus rhetoric to get along? The church is ignored or viewed with contempt, not because it boldly proclaims truth, but because it is so sissified. The bride of Christ is not called to be girlish, but to be the help-mate of the mighty and victorious King of Kings. The bride of Christ is not called to whoredom, but to purity, beauty, and rulership with all the authority of her groom-King.

» left by Teresa^(1,666) (1 year 101 days ago.)

Hi Lance. Unfortunately, this is so true. The salt has lost its flavor. I pray we all wake up and get back to what it means to be a follower of Christ. The problem is, because of the first item on this list, many are not quite sure what it even means. We have to start there. Teaching, sharing, without compromise whenever and wherever we can. Lord help us! Thank you for sharing. May this study spur us on to action! Blessings, Teresa

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