Matt Friedeman, InTheFight.com
New polling has come from George Barna and Pew Research that reveals some scary facts about the state of the church.
Dave Macy:
Reading the religious poll results from the Barna Group and the PewResearch Center can be a cold slap in the face. The reality ofChristian America’s shift away from faith in God and sound doctrine isevident by some staggering statistics. Perhaps the most telling of allthe research trends showing a watering down of “old time religion” andthe emergence of a post modern Christianity that embraces a liberaltheology far removed from the truth....
But perhaps the most shocking news coming from these surveys concernsthe men (and women) in the pulpit. In any given month at least 50% ofpriests, pastors, and ministers have visited at least one pornographicwebsite. If that many who are leaders of the church of Jesus Christare being promiscuous with porn is it any wonder those who still fillthe pews are experiencing a real lack of the power and anointing of theHoly Spirit from those who are commissioned to preach God’s word?
Why this decay? Why is the church worldlier than ever? There are manyreasons: Liberal theology that denies the inerrancy of the Holy Bible;the attempt by many churches to grow in numbers instead of makingdisciples; churches that love tell you ‘God loves you’ but don’t preachthe need for Repentance
Fifty percent of clergy members have viewed pornography in any given month? How has the church fallen to this state? Macy points out that the church cheapens God's love by leaving out the need for repentance. But I wonder if there isn't more to the problem than that. One major problem is that accountability is lacking in the church, but most importantly among the leaders of the church. It seems there is always a new scandal, typically sexual, involving a prominent church leader. Discipline and accountability must be reinstituted in the church, especially among the leadership. A revival will be much less likely to begin if church leaders are living in sin.
