This past week I had the opportunity to attend the D6 Southeast Conference in Florida. D6 is an organization dedicated to a return to biblical discipleship within the church… But hold on sec: That might not mean what you think it means. In fact, you’ll need to listen to my next few sermons to get the gist of THAT part.
One of the speakers shared a statistic that is haunting the American church right now. And, if it doesn’t haunt you, you need to check your heart. While I do not have his source, our speaker shared that 67% of American parents identify as “Christian.” But only 2% hold what is known as a Biblical worldview. In simpler terms, AI says this: “A Biblical worldview is a way of interpreting and responding to life based on the teachings of the Bible. It’s a comprehensive framework for understanding God, creation, humanity, morality, and purpose, all derived from God’s revealed truth.”
So, this is saying that only 2% of parents in America believe in living by the Book. Why would this be??
It is CLEARLY a PEOPLE ISSUE. Let.s explore that more…
In recent communiques as a pastor, I was reading about how pastors struggle now with the fact that the general public has a mistrust of pastors. Certainly Jim Bakker and televangelists of years gone by have contributed to this. Countless news articles about pastors who’ve stolen money from churches, pastors caught in abusive situations, pastors who have been caught in affairs, and every other mistake that is deemed newsworthy, all of these have made local pastors harder and harder to trust in the eyes of the general public. Then you can add in disgruntled church members who take great pleasure and find fertile soil on which to trash a pastor for a mistake or a mis-queue, and tongues that wag to hear and share the latest gossip. When you mix all of this up with the post-Covid angry world that we live in, the general public that does not know a pastor will have a very hard time trusting that pastor.
Then, you have churches. Churches are not buildings or addresses. Churches are made up of people. Some of those people live the Bible and try their best, and even they make mistakes. Then others will attend the church, serve on the committees, serve as a usher or in a public view, and then live lives that are absolutely contrary to God’s Word. And they are out every day working with, talking with, playing with, and among people who do not know Christ. When THOSE people see us (the church) talking like Heaven and living like Hell, they naturally WON’T believe God’s Word because they don’t even think that WE, the CHURCH, believe it.
So, as you can tell, what we have here is a failure to communicate …….. We have a PEOPLE PROBLEM. WE, the CHURCH, have a problem. And the problem is US!!
We can remedy this problem by starting small and LIVING God’s Word. Believing God’s Word. Start this small:
LOVE GOD WITH ALL OF YOUR HEART
LOVE OTHERS
Read the Bible and allow it to make a difference in our lives
I dare you to do that and see what happens!!!!!
One Pastor's Perspective 