The Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University released a shocking survey on May 10. The CRC administered a survey to 1,000 Christian pastors in the hopes of gaining a more in-depth understanding of their thoughts and behaviors.
The discovery that only 37% of the pastors surveyed had a biblical worldview was enough to catch the attention of Franklin Graham.
“I don’t know which 1,000 pastors this group surveyed, but the results are concerning,” Graham tweeted.
“39% of ‘evangelical’ pastors they asked said there is no absolute moral truth & that ‘each individual must determine their own truth.’ What a lie.”
Graham also took issue with the result of 30% of the survey respondents do not believe that salvation was based on the confession of sins and accepting Jesus as Savior:
“The survey also said that 30% of evangelical pastors do not believe that their salvation is based on having confessed their sins & accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior. This kind of false teaching is what is leading people & churches astray.
“The Bible is God’s Word, from cover to cover. It is the absolute truth—it is what counts, not our opinion.”
The survey shares a particularly disturbing comparison with the 37% of Christian pastors who hold a biblical worldview: only 2% of parents of preteens hold this view as well. These shockingly low numbers across the board give credence to Graham’s questioning of who exactly the participants were, and whether there was an agenda behind the survey.
The survey took eight categories on which to base a pastor’s worldview:
- Purpose, Calling
- Family, Value of Life
- God, Creation, History
- Faith Practices
- Sin, Salvation, God Relationship
- Human Character and Nature
- Lifestyle, Behavior, Relationship
- Bible, Truth, Morals
The only pastoral position that had a majority believe in the biblical worldview of a single section was 60% of Senior/Lead pastors, who believe in the biblical worldview in Purpose/Calling. Every other pastoral position, (Assistant/Associate, Teaching, Executive, Children’s/Youth) had a biblical worldview in the minority of how they believed.
The categories with the lowest ratings of biblical worldview from all pastoral positions was “Lifestyle/Behavior/Relationship,” including Senior/Lead 44%; Assistant/Associate 29%; Teaching 17%; Executive 5%; and Children’s/Youth 20%.
As pastors throughout history have preached, the repentance of sin precedes revival. With many Christians worldwide praying for revival, it makes sense that the devil would seek to make sin acceptable in the church, as opposed to turning away from it in sincere repentance. By identifying the symptoms, Christians know how to attack the problem. If pastors, and by extension parishioners, of churches are abandoning the biblical worldview of creation and creating a godless society, they can solve it with inviting Christ back.
With a biblical worldview, as Pastor Franklin Graham is claiming, at the forefront of a pastor’s philosophy, so too will a congregation’s mindset be on God first and foremost. {eoa}
James Lasher is a Copy Editor for Charisma Media.
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