Just How Well Has Christianity Fared In 2009?
Posted: Friday, January 01, 2010
by Joel Hendon
http://hebronics.org/index.html
I have written several articles in the past bemoaning the fact that so terribly many "Christians" aren't Christians. Maybe after this article, you will be able to see why I say such things. There are several bible scriptures which tell us of that fact but when you come right down to it, nobody wants to hear it. One of the clearest ones is spoken in Matthew by Jesus Himself.
Unless the Holy Bible is taken seriously, and people believe it is to be obeyed (not as they desire to do, but as it says to do), and do their best to do so, it is a worthless effort. They are not Christians except in self-proclaimed name only.
George Barna, of the Barna Group, is a researcher and surveyor of religious subjects with polls of the directions of peoples faith and activities in religious matters. His organization has analyzed the results of his numerous polls taken in 2009 to show how people are now accepting, or rejecting varying aspects of Christianity. It is very discouraging and causes me to feel guilty that those of us who are trying to be true to the biblical doctrines, morals and ethics, have failed to teach as we should, or live the exemplary lives we are supposed to. We will have this to confess when we face God, but fortunately, our efforts are all we will be responsible for, not the acceptance of rejection of others.
Barna has lumped the results of the analysis into four "themes" or aspects of the beliefs of the American people. I believe he has probably done an excellent job in summarizing his findings.
One of his themes is that Americans are growing more and more interested and involved in "faith and spirituality" than in Christianity. I believe that to be true and I'll mention his reasons and may add some. First he mentions that the national media, news, entertainment shows and virtually all those who are in the public eye, have become far more critical and demeaning of Christianity while espousing the faith in self and faith in other sources of wisdom and learning. Bingo! That is possibly one of the largest sources of the degradation of Christianity there is.
The next theme is on the same subject but switches to the individual somewhat. Barna says that primarily, people's faith is individual and customized. They are content with almost any spiritual faith if they, themselves, at lest help in the shaping of that faith. Scroll back to the beginning of this article and re-read the scripture from Matthew. Of course, everyone would like to live their lives just exactly as they wish. But that is where Christianity comes in. One has to desire to live for Christ in obedience to His will, rather than our own. That no longer sets well with the majority of people. Teachings such as Oprah's telling people thye are their own gods, adds to the desire to live strictly as they please.
God created man in His image and granted him free moral agency, that he may live as he wishes, accept or reject Jesus Christ as Lord, and anything else he may wish, so long as he is willing to face the eternal consequences. I read a comment recently where one fellow remarked that this was not what he considered free moral agency. But it is. God did not have to give us the opportunity to have our sins remitted. He could, rather, have said, "one strike and your out." Every person has the opportunity to accept and obey the words of Jesus Christ. He came to earth and died in order for us to have that opportunity and now it is up to the individual. If one winds up in eternal torments of hell, it was their choice, certainly not God's choice, he provided an out for us.
Barna's third theme is this: Biblical literacy is neither a current reality or a goal in America. I have written a number of articles on this very subject. His theme reflects that there is very little concern among the society as to what is actually contained in the Holy Scripture and even most who claim to be readers of it , only open it to a some place with little or no regard as to the context and when they read it, decide they do not know hwat that means or they accept it as a good scripture. And that is it.
Preachers and church leaders often feel that their people do not have a full set of beliefs. But Barna says rather, that they have a full set of beliefs but many of them are not biblically based. And he adds that most young people in Christian families think they are well versed in the bible by age 12-14 and have little desire to search deeper. I believe this to be profoundly accurate. This is a crucial mistake people make. I know, there was a time when I felt somewhat that way, but thankfully, I kept reading and now I realize just how little I still know aboutHis word. I read the bible more as I grow older.
And lastly, the fourth theme says that there is no effective or periodic measurement, or evaluation of people's spirituality, nor is thre likely to be such in the near future. This, he indicates, is lacking both from church leaders as well as the individual's self evaluation. Again I suspect he is very accurate in this determination. But, there is little that will probably change that. All of us who take it upon ourselves to plead and try to influence others to become devout Christians, should definitely place emphasis on this one and encourage all to study the bible in light of what we do and think, compared to what it says. Never depending upon someone else to advise us, because too many are prone to "soft soap sell" some of God's truths. And only the individual can fully and conscientiously compare his sincerity with biblical instructions. I wish that all would read the Barna analysis. It gives more fascinating details than are here. http://www.barna.org/
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)Very interesting article Joel. Thank you for sharing. Linda DThank you for reading and commenting, Linda.
The Bible talks about the end times and a great falling away. I am not so adventuresome that I wanted to be here for the "wend times" - would rather be seeing them from the mezinine (sp) BUT we might be elected to be right here,eh? Thanks Joel.... MarijoWe never know. Thanks for commenting, Marijo
Nice article and I couldn't agree with you more. So many self-proclaimed Christians out there destroying God's Word. They think they know Truth when actually the y ar far from it and they don't practice or work the scriptures. The parable of the sower says it all. I've yet been to a Christian church that teaches Confession. I don't like the way they mix God and the world. You can't have both. Prophecy is unfolding before our eyes and many of us are going to have to endure some hard times. If you're right with God, you have nothing to fear. Many people are going to be looking to their church and pastors for answers and they are not going to be able to provide them for them. People need to understand that the only way to God is by developing that one on one relationship with Jesus. Truth comes from God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, not man. Thanks Joel and God Bless You
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