04/30/2024 – Attached survey discussion – – “43% of Evangelicals DON’T think Jesus is God.” (Youtube link – Matt Whitman – attached). What say you?
For my part, unlike Matt , this survey result does not surprise me. George Barna, a longtime reknowned Christian statistician completed a full breadth survey that concluded as I recall back over two decades ago that only 9% of Americans hold a Christian Worldview. (link below to a more recent update). In general, to be categorized as “holding a Christian Worldview”, a person had to hold each of the seven cornerstone Christian beliefs listed.
Check out this study from Barna’s Cultural Resource Center: “Basic Biblical Beliefs Lacking Among Most Pastors”.
In the original survey, I recall that roughly half of the respondents said that Jesus was not without sin. I would ask Matt how many people has he had basic theological discussions and fellowship with. Why? I haven’t found many willing fellowship participants myself, even amongst those I see in church every Sunday. I’ve heard from work colleagues that are church goers say: “I believe that I am going to heaven; I am a ‘good person’. If there is a “good enough”, why did Jesus need to die on a cross?
The Czech Republic has one of the highest percentages of atheism in the world, at reportedly 50+%. Yet a visiting missionary at our local church told us a few years back the most common first question to christian missionaries was : “So, tell me about this God I don’t believe in.” So, I would submit to Matt that we would have a far better handle on the faith of people in Prague then here in the U.S.
Syncretism, the blending of conflicting worldviews into a personal theology, is also rampant. How many times have you heard: “All religions are basically the same.”
Y’all have probably heard of the reports of the large numbers of high school graduates in this country that have a lower elementary reading level. Well, I submit biblical illiteracy is a rampant pervasive problem as well, even amongst regular church attending, self professed christians. How can we be growing in our faith if we don’t even read the Bible nor pray? Our works don’t save us, but they are evidence of our faith in Christ. My bible study group has started Philippians, so this is fresh on my heart: “And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, so that you can determine what really matters and can be pure and blameless in the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1: 9-11)
How then shall we live? Personally, I’m looking to Jeremiah and Isaiah, no one was listening but ever so faithful messengers… What if we were born for this time just as they were born for their time? Now, there is a motivating thought … It is all with God’s help, but I am trying to fight off “wimpy”. Ephesians 6:13: “This is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.”
Soli Deo Gloria!