Do you have a Biblical Worldview? 63% of pastors don’t.
DO YOU HAVE A Biblical Worldview? 63% OF PASTORS Don’t.
Houston, we have a problem.
I woke up this morning to a text from my husband. It was a link to the Christian Post titled: “Study finds 37% of pastors have biblical worldview: Spiritual awakening 'needed in our pulpits.' “My heart sank. How can we expect the flock to have a Biblical worldview if the ones leading them don't?! This is a severe problem.
What’s worse, the stats decline significantly for other pastors on staff at the church.
A study on this topic, completed on May 10, 2022, was conducted by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University. The Director of Research is Dr. George Barna, well-known among church leaders for his research on the Bible, church, and ministry. Unfortunately, the results of his study were shocking and discouraging.
The table below shows the percentage of pastors who have a Biblical worldview:
All Christian Pastors with a Biblical worldview 37%
Senior/Lead Pastors with a Biblical worldview: 41%
Associate/Assistant Pastors with a Biblical worldview: 28%
Teaching Pastors with a Biblical Worldview: 13%
Children’s/Youth Pastors with a Biblical worldview: 12%
Executive Pastors with a Biblical worldview: an astounding 4%
These numbers led us to research the word worldview, so we used another Barna study to define the term. It says, “Barna defines “biblical worldview” as (1) believing that absolute moral truth exists; (2) the Bible is accurate in all of the principles it teaches; (3) Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic; (4) a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do good works; (5) Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and (6) God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today.”
There’s bad news and really bad news
The study states:
[Bad News]:
“Much like other Americans, the pastors who do not have a biblical worldview are unlikely to fully embrace a competing worldview (such as Secular Humanism, Marxism, or others). In fact, less than 1% of pastors embody a worldview other than Biblical Theism (i.e., the biblical worldview).”
[Really Bad News]:
“Instead, their prevailing worldview is best described as Syncretism, the blending of ideas and applications from various holistic worldviews into a unique but inconsistent combination that represents their personal preferences. More than six out of 10 pastors (62%) have a predominantly syncretistic worldview.”
So what do we do now?
Mama always says, “If you can’t offer a solution, don’t complain about it.” We believe we all have a pivotal role in sharing a Biblical worldview, so we want to be part of the solution. Therefore, we have created an academy that trains women in 5 areas: systematic theology, apologetics, Biblical Studies, practical ministry, and original Biblical languages. You can now sign up for this training at www.tbm.academy. In the meantime, we highly recommend you meet with your church leaders to find out the status of their worldview.
Do you have a Biblical Worldview?
You can find out if you have a Biblical Worldview. Click here to take the test.
References:
https://www.christianpost.com/news/only-37-of-pastors-have-a-biblical-worldview-barna.html
https://www.arizonachristian.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/AWVI2022_Release05_Digital.pdf
https://www.barna.com/research/competing-worldviews-influence-todays-christians/