Study: Pastors Hide Culture Truth to be Successful

Researcher George Barna says that after years of survey and study, The Barna Group has found that the vast majority of theologically conservative American pastors intentionally conceal information that is critical to the well being of their flock and the nation, and do so in order to enhance the "success" of their church.

"Well, that's not part of my mission; my mission is to bring in more people and to get them to understand certain things that I feel they should know."
-- Common response by clergy

For background, read Pastors Who Avoid Gay Agenda Deserve Hell, Says Franklin Graham

-- From "Barna: Many pastors wary of raising 'controversy'" by Chris Woodward, OneNewsNow.com 8/1/14

"What we're finding is that when we ask them about all the key issues of the day, [90 percent of them are] telling us, Yes, the Bible speaks to every one of these issues. Then we ask them: Well, are you teaching your people what the Bible says about those issues? – and the numbers drop ... to less than 10 percent of pastors who say they will speak to it."

When researchers ask those pastors what else they are willing to do to get their people active in the political process, Barna said "it's almost nothing."

"There are five factors that the vast majority of pastors turn to [when asked the question of what defines success]," [Barna] explained. "Attendance, giving, number of programs, number of staff, and square footage.

"What I'm suggesting is [those pastors] won't probably get involved in politics because it's very controversial. Controversy keeps people from being in the seats, controversy keeps people from giving money, from attending programs.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read America Going to Hell; Christians Lose Convictions

Evangelicals' Choices for President (Hint: NOT Obama)

A new survey by the Barna Group shows that more Bible-believing Christians (as opposed to liberal "christians") favor GOP Mike Huckabee for president in 2012, while 94% of evangelicals consider Barack Obama unfavorably.

UPDATE 8/6/11: Texas-sized Prayers to God - Gov. Perry

UPDATE 7/29/11: Michele Bachmann Exposed as Christian by Liberals

UPDATE 5/21/11: Herman Cain: Christian Tea Party Candidate

-- From "Mike Huckabee Holds Strong Lead Among Conservative Christian Bloc" by David Gibson, Religion Reporter, Politics Daily 3/4/11

Huckabee, a former Baptist pastor, is strongest among evangelical Christians -- the 7 percent of the population that Barna defines by the strictest criteria of traditional faith and biblical literalism -- with an 88 percent favorable rating, followed by former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, with a 79 percent favorable ranking.

The field tails off considerably from there among evangelicals, with Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney -- who are widely expected to be among the first to throw their hats in the ring -- clocking 57 and 56 percent favorability ratings, respectively.

President Obama registers a meager 6 percent approval rating among this group, and an eye-opening 94 percent unfavorability rating.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Poll: Evangelicals have high views of Huckabee, low of Obama" by Michael Foust, Associate Editor, Baptist Press 3/4/11

The fact that [Huckabee] leads among evangelicals is no surprise -- he rode the wave of evangelical support in 2008 to a second-place primary finish -- but it does show that his base of support has not eroded.

Huckabee has led in several major polls examining Republicans' preference for the 2012 nomination:

-- A Gallup Poll of 1,326 Republican voters and Republican-leaning independents showed Huckabee at 18 percent, Romney and Palin at 16 percent each and Gingrich at 9 percent.

-- A Winthrop Poll of only Southern state voters listed Huckabee at 20 percent, Gingrich at 11 percent, Palin at 10 percent, Chris Christie at 8 percent and Romney at 7 percent. The poll surveyed 825 adults Feb. 21-27.

-- An NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll of 282 GOP voters Feb. 24-28 showed Huckabee leading with 25 percent, followed by Romney (21 percent), Gingrich (13 percent) and Palin (12 percent).

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Christian Preferences for 2012 Republican Nomination" by The Barna Group 3/3/11

In the most recent presidential elections, the faith communities of America have played a major role in electing presidents and other important public figures. Breaking down the survey data by more than a dozen religious segments regularly tracked by The Barna Group, the numbers take on yet a different contour. For instance, among evangelical Christians – the 7% of the population who are most concerned about moral issues (among other considerations) and are most involved in religious activity – the favorites are clearly Mr. Huckabee (88% favorable, 11% unfavorable) and Mrs. Palin (79% favorable, 21% unfavorable). There is less warmth directed towards Mr. Gingrich (57% - 37%), Mr. Romney (56% - 29%) and Mr. Paul (51% - 26%).

A larger religious segment – and a pivotal group in the last three elections and a group that is considerably less conservative than its evangelical subset – are born again Christians. Currently, the best favorability numbers from this group have been earned by Mr. Huckabee (58% favorable, 27% unfavorable) and Mr. Romney (49% - 33%). Mrs. Palin is somewhat less popular among born again adults (53% - 45%), while Mr. Gingrich struggles with this group (43% - 47%). Dr. Paul is generally viewed favorably by born agains, but is less well-known among them (39% - 31%).

Those who are from non-Christian faith communities generally like President Obama. His favorability rating among them is 61% positive, 38% negative. In contrast, not a single Republican potential candidate has a favorability rating that is more positive than negative among this faith audience: Gingrich (20% - 67%), Huckabee (30% - 59%), Palin (17% - 80%), Paul (31% - 53%), Romney (35% - 54%).

To read the entire survey results, CLICK HERE.

From "Huck tops Sarah in Fox poll" by Andy Barr, Politico 3/4/11

Sarah Palin . . . The former Alaska governor places third in a new Gallup poll out Friday of regular Fox News viewers’ choice for president.

Her 13 percent among regular Fox watchers ties her with Newt Gingrich and places her behind Mike Huckabee's 18 percent, and Mitt Romney's 17 percent.

“Given that viewership of the channel is common among Republicans, Fox News provides a unique opportunity for possible Republican candidates to raise their profile and increase their potential support,” wrote Gallup’s

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Christians' Negative Impact on America: Media Spin

A Barna Group survey of Americans' opinion of Christianity is being reported with emphasis on claims that "Christians have incited violence or hatred in the name of Jesus Christ" and saying the "church opposition to same-sex marriage was a negative."

-- From "1 in 4 Americans can't think of recent positive contribution by Christians" by Electa Draper, The Denver Post 10/26/10

One in four Americans said they couldn't think of a single positive societal contribution made by Christians in recent years, according to a nationwide survey released Monday.

Also, one in 10 adults said they couldn't think of a recent positive contribution because Christians hadn't made one, the Barna Group reported.

On the positive side, almost one in five mentioned how U.S. Christians help poor and underprivileged people. Those under the age of 25 were most likely to reference such service.

Among other findings, researchers noted that Evangelical Christians over age 25 and those who said they are "mostly conservative" on socio- political matters were least likely to list serving the poor as an important contribution.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

In contrast to the media spin above, below is the actual survey synopsis:

From "Americans Say Serving the Needy is Christianity’s Biggest Contribution to Society" posted at Barna Group 10/25/10

Most Americans believe that the Christian faith has made positive contributions to American society during the past few years. A new nationwide survey from The Barna Group reveals that most of those contributions fall into one of three categories. Surprisingly, the survey also discovered that Americans are even more likely to identify negative contributions to society by Christianity in recent years.

. . . one out of every five adults (19%) mentioned how Christians in the United States have helped poor or underprivileged people to have a better life.

The second most prolific contribution named related to evangelism . . . one out of every six adults (16%) offered this response.

The third most common contribution listed was shaping or protecting the values and morals of the nation. This perspective was given by one out of every seven adults (14%).

Slightly more than one out of every ten adults (11%) said Christianity had not made any positive contributions to the United States. This perspective was most common among people associated with a faith other than Christianity (23%) and Skeptics (27%).

To read the actual survey, CLICK HERE.

Biblical Worldview Virtually Non-existent Among Young Adults

Fewer than 0.5% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 23 reach The Barna Group measure of biblical worldview (defined as follows).

-- From "Survey: Less Than 1 Percent of Young Adults Hold Biblical Worldview" by Jennifer Riley, Christian Post Reporter 3/10/09

A biblical worldview, as defined by the Barna study, is believing that absolute moral truth exists; the Bible is completely accurate in all of the principles it teaches; Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic; a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do good works; Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today.

Only if someone held all the above beliefs did the research consider the person as having a biblical worldview.

George Barna, who directed the research, commented on the “troubling” generational pattern that suggests “parents are not focused on guiding their children to have a biblical worldview.”

“One of the challenges for parents, though, is that you cannot give what you do not have, and most parents do not possess such a perspective on life,” he noted.

The research shows that only nine percent of all American adults have a biblical worldview, which although significantly higher than that of the [young adult] generation is still a small proportion of the total population.

[Barna] also noted that the study raises questions on how effective of a job Christian churches, schools and parachurch ministries are doing in Christian education.

To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.

Study: Most Americans Still Take the Bible - Literally!

An astonishing statistic given that the majority of those same people also appear to harbor a stubborn indifference toward God.

From "Most Americans Take Well-Known Bible Stories at Face Value" posted 10/21/07 at The Barna Group

(Ventura, CA) - Americans may be skeptical about the claims of politicians, but they remain confident that some of the most amazing stories in the Bible can be taken at face value. A new nationwide survey conducted by The Barna Group shows that six well-known Bible stories are accepted as literal truth by an average of two out of three adults.

How People Read the Stories

Survey respondents were asked if they thought a specific story in the Bible was “literally true, meaning it happened exactly as described in the Bible” or whether they thought the story was "meant to illustrate a principle but is not to be taken literally." Six renowned Bible stories were then offered to adults for their consideration.

Surprisingly, the most significant Bible story of all - "the story of Jesus Christ rising from the dead, after being crucified and buried" - was also the most widely embraced. Three out of four adults (75%) said they interpreted that narrative literally, while only one out of five (19%) said they did not take that story literally. The more highly educated respondents were, the less likely they were to take the story literally, although even two-thirds of college graduates (68%) believe the resurrection narrative is literally true. One of the most substantial differences of opinion occurred between mainline Protestants (83% of whom take the resurrection literally) and non-mainline Protestants (among whom 95% accept the resurrection as fact). Overall, 82% of Catholics embrace the resurrection narrative as being true. Black adults were much more likely than either whites (74%) or Hispanics (80%) to consider the resurrection to be true.

The account of the prophet Daniel surviving in the lion’s den was deemed to be literally true by two-thirds of adults (65%). There was a huge regional difference of perspective. About half of the residents of the Northeast (51%) and West (55%) adopted a literal view of the story, compared to about three-quarters of those living in the South (78%) and Midwest (71%). There was a huge gap between Protestants (81%) and Catholics (51%) taking a literal view of this event. The ethnic gap persisted, as well: 85% of blacks, 66% of whites and 56% of Hispanics adopted a literal view of Daniel’s experience.

Two out of three Americans (64%) believe that Moses literally parted the Red Sea to allow the Israelites to escape from the Egyptians. Regionally, almost four out of five southerners (78%) accept this story as literal truth, while less than three out of five adults from other regions hold the same view (59% in the Midwest and West, 57% in the Northeast). Similarly, four out of five Protestants (79%) and three out of five Catholics (60%) embrace a literal interpretation of the Red Sea story.

But Barna also noted a significant disconnect between faith and practice. "While the level of literal acceptance of these Bible stories is nothing short of astonishing given our cultural context, the widespread embrace of these accounts raises questions about the unmistakable gap between belief and behavior. On the one hand we have tens of millions of people who view these narratives as reflections of the reality, the authority and the involvement of God in our lives. On the other hand, a majority of those same people harbor a stubborn indifference toward God and His desire to have intimacy with them. In fact, a minority of the people who believe these stories to be true consistently apply the principles imbedded in these stories within their own lives. It seems that millions of Americans believe the Bible content is true, but are not willing to translate those stories into action. Sadly, for many people, the Bible has become a respected but impersonal religious history lesson that stays removed from their life."

Read the whole article.

It is interesting to note that polls about what Americans think about the war in Iraq are reported almost daily. Yet a Google News search on this poll turned up only two articles; one in Christianity Today and the other in The Christian Post. The above survey was
completely absent in the mainstream media this week. The mainstream secular media has completely ignored it.

Why? It doesn't fit with their view of the America.

Still not convinced? Consider this:

News articles on another study that indicates that the next generation sees Christians as mean-spirited, intolerant and bigoted seem to be everywhere...

Here's a sample:

Study: Christians perceived as anti-gay
The Daily Collegian Online, PA - Oct 21, 2007

Study: Youth see Christians as judgmental, anti-gay
USA Today - Oct 10, 2007

Kids these days … have some harsh words for Christians
Austin American-Statesman, TX - Oct 19, 2007

Survey: Christian image takes a hit
NorthJersey.com, NJ - Oct 19, 2007

Love Thy (Gay) Neighbor
Washington Post, United States - Oct 15, 2007