Pastors, Parents, and Worldviews

The American Worldview Inventory 2022 Study of Parents and Pastors provides “shocking results concerning the worldview of Christian pastors”: “...a new nationwide survey among a representative sample of America’s Christian pastors shows that a large majority of those pastors do not possess a biblical worldview.” “The latest AWVI 2022 release from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University indicates that barely one-half of the pastors of evangelical churches (51%) have a biblical worldview.” There are related posts at the following link:

American Worldview Inventory 2022 – A National Worldview Study of Parents and Pastors

• AWVI 2022: The Worldview Dilemma of American Parents (Release #01: 03-08-2022)
• AWVI 2022: The Strengths and Weaknesses of What Pre-Teen Parents Believe and Do (Release #02: 03-29-2022)
• AWVI 2022: A Detailed Look at How the Worldview of Parents of Preteens Misses the Mark (Release #03: 04-12-2022)
• AWVI 2022: Improving Parents’ Ability to Raise Spiritual Champions (Release #04: 04-26-2022)
• AWVI 2022: Shocking Results Concerning the Worldview of Christian Pastors (Release #05: 05-12-2022)
• AWVI 2022: Only Half of Evangelical Pastors Possess a Biblical Worldview; Incidence Even Lower for Most Denominations (Release #06: 05-24-2022)

It should be no surprise, considering the evidence in this study, that Christianity in the United States is in dire straits. In relation to this study, Janet Parshall interviewed George Barna on In the Market radio. In the discussion, he pointed out our problematic standards of grading a successful church. Our modern measures of success are primarily (based on my writing them after he said them, so maybe not exactly in his words):

• How many attendees (influence)
• How many programs (relevance)
• How many people on staff (respectability)
• How much money collected (affluence)
• What kind of building owned (accommodations, number of square feet)

If we judge the success of churches by the number of people, programs, & personnel, and the amount of property & prosperity, we cannot help but go astray. May the Lord help us return to the old paths (Jeremiah 6:16).