Pastor's Corner

7 Sep
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Mid-Week Challenge

The truth hurts, but it can help explain why you feel as bad as you do some days.  After reading the latest release from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, the pain we have been feeling in the Church over the past few years makes sense. The study reports that at least one-third of senior pastors across the United States believe that people can go to Heaven based on good works.  That’s right, one-third of senior pastors say that being a "good person" can get you into Heaven.  Additionally, one-third or more of senior pastors surveyed believe that the Holy Spirit is "a symbol of God's power" rather than a "living entity," moral truth is subjective, and "sexual relations between two unmarried people who believe they love each other is morally acceptable."  They also believe that socialism is preferable to capitalism, the Bible is "ambiguous" when it comes to abortion and reincarnation is "a real possibility."

https://www.arizonachristian.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/AWVI2022_Release05_Digital.pdf

Center Director, Dr. George Barna, reported that the results are connected to pastor's not regularly engaging in spiritual practices.  "While studying the spiritual behavioral patterns of pastors, it became evident that a large share of them do not have a regular spiritual routine," Barna said. "There was a correlation between possessing biblical beliefs and a consistent regimen of Bible reading, prayer, worship and confession. In some of the denominational groupings, a majority of pastors do not engage in those foundational spiritual practices on a regular basis," he continued. "Yet, among the pastors who have the most consistently biblical beliefs, there is also a daily routine that incorporates all of those disciplines." 

Barna’s findings should be common knowledge but it comes across to some as a surprise.  However, we have known for some time that Mainline Protestant pastors lack a Biblical world view.  A previous survey found that only 37 percent of Christian pastors have a biblical worldview and that a loss of biblical belief is prevalent among pastors in all denominational groupings. Pastors from non-denominational and independent Protestant churches were more likely to possess a biblical worldview.  https://www.christianheadlines.com/blog/non-denominational-pastors-are-more-likely-to-hold-a-biblical-worldview-survey.html

Franklin Graham rightfully called out these ministers as false teachers.  https://twitter.com/Franklin_Graham/status/1566874640081121281?s=20&t=kPQl47AZcto9pfGwODPxPA  Barna explains that the downfall is due mainly to job expectations.  "Other research among pastors I have undertaken suggests that pastor's jobs are overwhelming," he said. "The typical pastor is expected by church members to handle an enormous number and range of tasks. In such situations, it must be easy to neglect the fundamentals in order to address tasks that seem more pressing and urgent. Unfortunately, after a prolonged period of such neglect, the foundations become weak, and the person changes—in this case, not for the better."  

If this is true, it is no excuse. The number one duty of the pastor is to rightfully handle the World of God.  If expectations call him away from this then the Church has lost focus and purpose.  These findings are alarming and should come as a call to action to those in the pew.  Know what it means to have a Biblical Worldview and align yourself with a pastor and church that demands Christians to display this in all settings.  Support your pastor by making sure he has the time to devote to Biblical teaching and not worldly details.    

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.   2 Timothy 4:3

Serving the Savior,

Bro. Jonathan

 

By: Dr. Jonathan Richerson

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