Barna Poll: Confused Christians

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The newest survey released by the Barna Company reveals a continued confusion in areas of doctrine and practice among Christians here in North America. Some of the confusion centers on the very nature and personhood of God, the identity of the devil, and how to deal with other religions.

Basically, folks, I fear the American church is failing the American people. We've focused so much on teaching lessons in morality (feel-good lessons) that we've abandoned the God-given call to preach sound doctrine. And when it comes to combating unbiblical ideas and philosophies, we have chosen the path of compromise instead of the path of truth.

Here is a sampling from the Barna survey of how confused many American Christians are:

Inconsistencies Noted

The study also identified a number of instances in which people’s beliefs seemed inconsistent. Among those were the following:

• About half (47%) of the Christians who believed that Satan is merely a symbol of evil nevertheless agreed that a person can be under the influence of spiritual forces such as demons.

• About half (49%) of those who agreed that the Holy Spirit is only a symbol but not a living entity also agreed that the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches, even though the Bible clearly describes the Holy Spirit as more than a symbolic reference to God’s power or presence.

• About one-third (33%) of the self-defined Christians who agree that the Bible, Koran and Book of Mormon all teach the same truths simultaneously contend that the Bible is totally accurate in its principles, even though the three sacred books have very different ideas about truth, salvation, and the nature of God.

Isn't it sad? You can read the rest of the survey here, if you'd like.

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