George Barna, a leading expert in church and worldview trends, has weighed in on some of the biggest issues facing the Church -- including the steady decrease in a biblical worldview and dwindling concern for spiritual formation, the Christian Post website reports today (May 22, 2024).
In an interview with the Christian Post, the 69--year--old founder of the Barna Group, a market research firmspecializing in studying Americans' religious beliefs and behaviors that he sold in 20009, said that over the last few decades, he's seen certain negative trends increasingly permeate Western Christianity.
People have become more selfisah, churches have become less influential, pastors have become less Bible--cenrter, Barber, who now serves as the director of research at the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University said:
Families have invested less of their time and energy in spiritual growth, particularly of their children. The media now influences the Church more than the Church influences the media, or the culture for that matter."
One of the most troubling trends Barna highlights is the decline in discipleship and a lack of solid, biblical training from seminaries. He criticized the prevalent metrics used by churches to gauge success-- attendance, fundraising, and infrastructure-- which he stressed have little to do with Jesus' mission.
"There is poor leadership in seminaries that mislead local churches into thinking that they're actually training individuals whom God has called to be leaders and certifying them to lead local churches, not having any better bringing them on," he said.
Barna added, "Jesus didn't come to build institutions , he came to build people . And we see that model in His life. He devoted the ministry portion of this life to investing in individuals, and that's what each of us who are followers of Christ need to be doing ."
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