FWP Ministries Blog

The (one)Barna Group’s report on American’s 201one New Year’s Resolutions is out. The summary of their analysis is revealing: “Individualism Shines By means of…” Not surprisingly, of those who made resolutions, the top two categories had to do with problems related to weight/health and debt/finances.

From the write-up:

Whilst men and women concentrate on themselves when making priorities for the New Year, it is telling that so few Americans say they want to enhance relationships with other people. There had been nearly no mentions of volunteering or serving other people; only a handful of comments about marriage or parenting; virtually no responses focusing on being a greater friend; and only a tiny fraction of people today mentioned improving their connection with God.

Needless to say, Americans are increasingly self-focused. Apparently, relationships, service, marriage, parenting, and improving one’s relationship with God are reasonably unimportant.

Believe carefully here; in a nation that a number of call Christian, it\’s specific that a christian worldview is practically non-existent. Whether or not the study respondents are Christian or not, and no doubt numerous are, when personal improvement and career objectives come in ahead of developing one’s relationship with God, an additional worldview is dominant. It begs the question, for all the churches we have, all the resources we give, all the Christian organizations we join, and all the political activism in which we engage, what are we missing? There’s a disconnect somewhere. Even though God is in control of the outcomes of Christian witness, when the church has modest, and indeed decreasing, influence in a culture, some thing should be wrong with our message, technique, or both.

I don\’t have all the answers. But, it appears to me a few questions are in order. Does our version of the gospel line up with the New Testament’s version, or have we changed it in some way? Does our technique of promoting the methods of God in the culture mirror the approach of the New Testament church or have we altered some thing substantial in our attempt to contextualize? Does the typical church in America and the issues it does resemble the typical church in the New Testament or have we somehow clouded the role and function of the church? Does our attempt to attract other people look like that which drew men and women to the early church or is our appeal a lot more culturally influenced? Does the use of our time and resources imitate the priorities of the 1st-century church or have we subtly sought to Christianize America’s use of time and resources? Are our lifestyles and values reflective of the New Testament churches or the society in which we’re immersed? Does our love of one an additional shine Via as did the early disciples’ or are we fairly a lot individualists like our fellow Americans?

These questions are not meant as criticism but are provided for research. I have some soul-searching to do. Maybe we as the church do as well. At the incredibly least, such study is a call to the church to recognize the work ahead of us. But, just before we do the work, let us aanswer the questions that our work may possibly be successful. Americans, Christian or not, have their priorities reversed. God has to be at the top of our list of issues to work on this year; if He’s not all the other problems just don\’t matter. And, if He is, all the other problems will be taken care of. At least, that’s what Jesus said (Matt. 6:33).

one Barna Group’s report

Dr. Paul Dean invites you to find out a lot more about your self, God, and other people… and develop a christian worldview. Dr. Dean is a pastor, cultural commentator, and author. Obtain a Free of charge commentary and find out a lot more at http://www.trueworldview.com