Thanks Barna
Activity That Does Not Concern Churches
In fact, the survey found some disturbing results concerning the priorities of pastors in how they measure spiritual health.
Stewardship is rarely deemed a meaningful measure of church vitality. Church budgets are typically set based on the assumption that the average congregant will give 2% to 3% of their income to the ministry. Consequently, the fact that only 6% of born again adults tithe is not seen as an indicator of lukewarm commitment.
Evangelism is not a priority in most churches, so the fact that most churched adults do not verbally share the gospel in a given year is not deemed problematic. Only one out of every eight churches bother to evaluate how many of their congregants are sharing their faith in Christ with non-believers.
When pastors described their notion of significant, faith-driven life change, the vast majority (more than four out five) focused on salvation but ignored issues related to lifestyle or spiritual maturity. The fact that the lifestyle of most churched adults is essentially indistinguishable from that of unchurched people is not a concern for most churches; whether or not people have accepted Jesus Christ as their savior is the sole or primary indicator of “life transformation,” regardless of whether their life after such a decision produces spiritual fruit.
Churches are prone to looking for indicators of serving people within the church more often than seeking signs that needy people outside the church are being cared for. In fact, for every two churches that consider the congregation’s breadth of ministry to people not connected to the church to be an indicator of spiritual health, there are five churches that focus on the amount of “in-reach” activity undertaken.
Pastors are nine times more likely to seek reactions to their sermon than they are to assess the congregation’s reactions to visitors.
Perhaps most alarming of all, pastors were 21 times more likely to evaluate whether people showed up (i.e., attendance) than to determine whether people experienced the presence of God during their time at the church.
3 comments:
Could it be as simple as knowing Jesus...
...the more we begin to understand Him and His concerns, the more these stats will begin to change. I am convinced (along with a fiery member of your Santa Cruz team) that of the many who "know Christ," there are few who know Him...
Willard's "Hearing God" lines out a concept for knowing the will of God that comes from understanding the character and heart of God. Much like I can know the will of my wife as a result of my intimate knowledge of who she is, above and beyond the actual words she may use to communicate her will, we can know the will of Jesus as we begin to know* him and his purposes and desires.
*Let us refrain from "spiritualizing" the meaning out of the words we use; if "knowing" someone doesn't mean knowing someone then it means nothing at all...
good words steve. I always value your outlook sean and how your are working on changing the "stats" of the church. you starting by making a change in how you do things, I see that in your ministry sean. (and steve) I have a lot to learn from you two guys.
I always enjoy a good stat...So let me get this straight: Just because it tells me it’s a duck, doesn’t make it a duck. In fact, if it tells me it’s a duck, I ought to see if it acts like a duck, because ducks don’t talk, they quack. Hmmmm...As I’ve been told, I think we’re better off looking for a few good eagles.
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