SOUNDING THE ALARM!

Time to wake up and recognize the state of the American church culture. Here is an alarming indicator of the condition of the "church" in America.

Is holiness no longer an issue in the American church? It would seem not if you observe these statistics by The Barna Group.

Holiness is a matter embraced by the Christian Church, but it is not one that many Americans adopt as a focal point of their faith development. This is partially because barely one-third of Americans (35%) contend that "God expects you to become holy." A larger share of the born again public believes God has called them to holiness (46%) but that portion remains a minority of the born again population. (Italics mine)

I think "Christian Church" in the above quote should be "American Church". There are too many people identified as believers who show no evidence that they really are.

“Realize that the results portray a body of Christians who attend church and read the Bible, but do not understand the concept or significance of holiness, do not personally desire to be holy, and therefore do little, if anything to pursue it. However, the data identify a remnant that understands holiness, wants to live a holy life, and is engaged in its pursuit. The challenge to the nation’s Christian ministries is to foster a genuine hunger for holiness among the masses who claim they love God but who are ignorant about biblical teachings regarding holiness." (Italics mine)

Lack of understanding....no desire for holiness....no pursuit of it? Remember what Jesus said about being known by our fruits. At first glance it would appear that most in the "church" have not been regenerated.

Remnant....understanding....desire....pursuit of holiness. The "remnant" is showing the fruits of a changed life.

Pointing to data from several of his recent surveys on spiritual maturity in the U.S., Barna noted, "To initiate the education of people regarding holiness, we must arrest their attention and teach its importance. To align their hearts with the notion of being holy, we must move them away from a ‘cheap grace’ theology and replace people’s self-absorption with focus on God and His ways. To help them pursue holiness, we must help them comprehend and accept biblical theology regarding God, Satan, the purposes of life on earth, the nature of spiritual transformation and maturity, and the necessity of bearing spiritual fruit." (Italics mine)

Although I do believe that a "'cheap grace' theology" is plaguing American churches, I must disagree with Barna's assessment here. It is not a lack of education regarding theology, transformation, and maturity that is the problem. Rather, it is the lack of true, biblical conversions to Christ that these results really indicate.

Here is the complete article for further analysis.