Doing Violence To The Biblical Worldview
Ezekiel 22:26
"Her priests do violence to my instruction and profane my holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they do not explain the difference between the clean and the unclean. They close their eyes to my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them."
Americans’ belief in God, in the devil and in other spiritual entities has fallen to a new lows. Almost half (46%) believe, “Everyone sins a little bit, but most people are good by nature and that “God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam” (42%). While about 65% of American adults describe themselves as Christians, only about half 54% believe they will experience heaven after they die. Only one-third of adults (33%) believe they will go to heaven solely because of confessing their sins and embracing Jesus as their savior. One-in-five who are expecting to experience heaven are counting on earning their way in, (being a good person) or because they embrace universalism (God let's everyone into heaven, believers, unbelievers, all humanity).
So much confusion, delusions, and misconceptions.
Q: What's missing?
A: The full gospel being taught by believing Pastors, teachers, and parents. What's missing is nurturing by people who truly believe what they preach.
Did you know that strong faith is waining in our culture? You probably answered with a resounding, "yes!"
Did you know that among American pastors there is a steady eroding of beliefs in areas as basic as salvation through Jesus Christ, the nature of God, the sinful condition of human beings, and the existence of objective truth? Large numbers of pastors have abandoned the most basic and hallowed biblical teachings, and substituted their faith for progressive ideas that now permeate our culture. And because pastors teach what they believe, many churches are becoming centers of syncretism and secular thought. The church under their direction is being influenced by the culture rather than influencing the culture. And so it's safe to say that we can no longer assume that the next generations will stand up on a strong biblical ground against the ways of the rebellious world.
In studies of mainstream denominations, research shows us that church youth groups are often led by pastors who lack basic biblical understanding. And the same studies show that pastors serving non-denominational and independent Protestant churches were by far the most likely to embrace basic biblical principles.
I saw this myself and was stunned to learn that many churches have too many leaders who are willing to hold tight to even the slightest of absolute biblical guiding principles. According to reports, more than one-third believe that there is no absolute moral truth. The studies shows that the least biblically centered pastors, by a substantial margin, are those who serve as executive pastors, teaching pastors, and children’s or youth pastors. Nearly half of the senior pastors have a biblical worldview. More than a third of these pastors believe that determining moral truth is up to the individual, it's all relative to the individual's experience. This same group believes that The Holy Spirit is not a living entity, but is merely symbolic of God’s power, presence, or purity. I've known pastors who have told me they've never experienced the works of The Holy Spirit. And the hits go on...more than a third believe having faith matters more than which faith you have. And more than a third believe the Bible is ambiguous on many cultural and spiritual issues.
So is it any wonder the professing church is in steep decline among the American people? Garbage in garbage out.
The church leadership is drowning in confusion. The church shepherds are scattering the flocks with the infusion and blending of eastern mysticism, relativism, skepticism, and frankly straight up selfishness. Many won't risk their lifestyles for the moral truths and a biblical worldview. It's much safer to tell your congregation they are mainly good. It's ironic because so much of the Christian culture and teaching is built upon the ground of faith in Christ Jesus and the regenerative born again experience. And yet the pastors teach a person who is generally good, or does enough good things for others, can earn a place in Heaven. And ironically the "good" that they encourage is NOT evangelism efforts, except maybe inviting someone to their church. If you're looking for the great commission "go and teach the gospel to all the nations" team, don't bother.
The result:
9% of all born again adults and just 7% of Protestants possess a biblical worldview. Barna reports that only half of the country’s Protestant pastors – 51% – have a biblical worldview. Methodists were lowest among the seven segments evaluated (27%), that means two-thirds of Methodist pastors DON'T have a biblical worldview. The Barna research also points out that even in churches where the pastor has a biblical worldview, most of the congregants do not. More than six out of every seven congregants in the typical church do not share the biblical worldview of their pastor. Which suggests that the nurturing process is slipping up. I wonder what the Methodist founder John Wesley would think about that.
I guess it proves you can't give people something you don't have. Merely preaching good 40 minute sermons, with performance based worship, and offering helpful relevant consumer based programs, does not enable most believers to develop a practical and scriptural theological foundation that shapes and helps them in the sanctification of their life (aka holiness).
Nothing new under the sun.
Here's the rub for me...the church is supposed to be a way-station at the gates of hell, not a coffeehouse or country club. It's supposed to teach biblical principles and prepare the generations for the way of The Lord.
"they do not explain the difference between the clean and the unclean."
Solution:
Pray for the churches and the people therein. Pray they will understand the word and wisdom from God in spite of the lack of biblical nurture. And pray for a pouring out of the Holy Spirt upon these congregations. Without a doubt in my mind, the number one factor that leads to this unbelief among the leadership is the Holy Spirit has left the building. He was invited to leave. Sometimes encouraged to leave. But mostly He was ignored because, "Her priests do violence to my instruction and profane my holy things."