A recent survey was done on the Biblical worldview of pastors in the United States and the results left me appalled and scared. This study of 1000 pastors conducted by the Cultural Research Center (CRC) at Arizona Christian University, found that only 37 percent of American pastors have a biblical worldview. Someone had asked me to clarify what a biblical worldview is so let me explain. A biblical worldview is also called a Christian worldview. GotQuestions.org describes a Christian worldview as “a comprehensive conception of the world from a Christian standpoint. An individual’s worldview is his “big picture,” a harmony of all his beliefs about the world. It is his way of understanding reality. One’s worldview is the basis for making daily decisions and is therefore extremely important.”
GotQuestions.org goes on further to outline three beliefs of a Christian worldview.
We are God’s creation, designed to govern the world and fellowship with Him
We sinned against God and subjected the whole world to a curse
God Himself has redeemed the world through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ and will one day restore creation to its former perfect state
Unfortunately, it does not seem that most American pastors value these fundamental beliefs. There was the opinion that evangelicals would have a high percentage of those who believe that God’s Word is the Truth, and that we should live by Biblical principles, but only 51% of evangelical pastors have a biblical worldview. It was also found that just 41% of senior/lead pastors have a biblical worldview. That is the highest percentage of any other type of pastor as 28% associate/assistant pastors, 13% teaching pastors and 12% children’s/youth pastors possess a biblical worldview.
George Barna, the director of research at the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, explained, “A person’s worldview primarily develops before the age of 13, then goes through a period of refinement during their teens and twenties. From a worldview perspective, a church’s most important ministers are the children’s pastor and the youth pastor. Discovering that seven out of every eight of those pastors lack a biblical worldview helps to explain why so few people in the nation’s youngest generations are developing a heart and mind for biblical principles and ways of life, and why our society seems to have run wild over the last decade, in particular.”
In 2003, a research in Culture and Media by Barna.com observed that “Although most people own a Bible and know some of its content, our research found that most Americans have little idea how to integrate core biblical principles to form a unified and meaningful response to the challenges and opportunities of life. We’re often more concerned with survival amidst chaos than with experiencing truth and significance.” The research concluded that only 9% of Christians had a Biblical worldview and less than 20 years later research done by Cultural Research Center shows that number is down to 6% of Christians. The dominant worldview for most Americans is syncretism. Britannica.com defines religious syncretism as the fusion of diverse religious beliefs and practices.
Barna remarked, “This is another strong piece of evidence that the culture is influencing the American church more than Christian churches are influencing the culture.”
From these data we can deduce that not only is the American church in a crisis, but also many other churches in the world who like to use the American church as a model, in addition to a worldwide audience who are enamored by America tele-evangelists. It seems many people do not think that the Word of God should be the guide in their lives but are rather more influenced by the culture.
“Some critics have said that megachurches attract people by compromising the gospel, teaching what people want to hear rather than the hard truth stated within the Bible. While this research does not directly touch on that argument the data do show that larger churches are less likely to have pastors who maintain a biblical worldview,” Barna commented.
He went on to explain, “You cannot give what you do not have so, it is plausible that pastors of some large churches attract people by teaching a cultural standard rather than a biblical standard.”
Barna declared after the findings of a previous research in 2020 on America’s Dominant Worldview, “Our studies show that Americans are neither deep nor sophisticated thinkers. Americans have become selfish and emotion-driven, leaving logic behind. To promote a way of life that pushes us to think more clearly, consistently, purposefully will take time and effort and will be uncomfortable. Most people seem more interested in living a life of comfort and convenience than one of logical consistency and wisdom. Our children will continue to suffer the consequences of following in the unfortunate footsteps of their parents and elders. People who are willing to fight for a more reasonable way of thinking and acting can make a difference, but it will be slow progress.”
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