During the last days of World War II, with Europe in the throes of one of the most lethal engagements of all times, known as the Battle of the Bulge, it was documented that German SS troops would dress up as American Soldiers and infiltrate behind the line of battle. This effort, combined with other forms of psychological warfare, proved extremely disruptive to the Allied cause and wrought great confusion in our troops. Ultimately, all of this led to disorientation amongst the troops that impaired their ability to effectively stave off the attacks of their enemy and often led to their capture or even death. It was said that the Germans were so well immersed in American culture that it was often difficult even for trained observers to ascertain their true identity. Only through clever questioning about obscure matters, which would be known only by a true American, could they be distinguished from the “real McCoy.”
Certainly, this type of internal migration of imposters into the realm of some degree of homogeneity occurred well before World War II and continues to occur to this day. Even in nature, when brackish water seeps into a freshwater supply, the whole can easily be changed by the osmosis of even a small but steady stream of a counterfeit or polluted medium. Most of the time this phenomenon, whether accidental or intentional, results in at least a diluted version of the original. But, just like the introduction of poison into an otherwise harmless drink, the result can be devastating or even deadly.
How Modern Influences Are Reshaping Traditional Christian Beliefs
Systems steeped in tradition can be modified over time by the adoption of different thought patterns to become almost unrecognizable from their original versions. Even a people’s most cherished religious beliefs can fall prey to insipid assaults of small modifications over time. Behaviorists use the word “syncretism” to describe this merging of different belief systems. As it applies in a religious context, this concept allows for an “inclusive” approach to the tenets of other faiths. Such inclusivism culminates in a new religion totally different than either of its original parts, even when some of the adopted beliefs appear to be contradictory to those of the original system.
George Barna, a renowned Christian market researcher and founder of the Barna Group, has studied American culture through the years and has chronicled this observable, continuing event even amongst those who are labeled as Christians. In his bestselling book “Think Like Jesus,” published in 2004, Barna outlined his approach to defining an individual respondent as an evangelical Christian. Instead of asking the person’s own view of his or her belief, Barna chose rather to ask a series of seven pertinent questions from which an objective determination could be made of the individual’s religious status based on the answers given to the seven queries. Obviously, this pattern assisted the researchers in avoiding the bias inherent in a potentially rationalized self-identification technique. Based on his findings printed in his book, Barna essentially concluded, amongst other things:
Less than fifteen percent of individuals sitting in an evangelical church pew on any given Sunday actually knew what they believed spiritually and why.
This figure was certainly an astounding wake-up call to the church in America 20 years ago.
Nevertheless, Barna’s group has continued to monitor the religious belief system in our nation beginning in 2020, particularly as it applies to Christianity. The George Barna-led Cultural Research Center is located at Arizona Christian University, a university and research center that is highly recommended by many within Christianity, including me, for its quality and insightful findings. Unfortunately, what they have discovered through their annual reviews does not indicate any improvement in the cohesiveness of a biblical worldview within Christian ranks, but rather a marked decrease in this cornerstone creedal component of the Christian faith.
Startling Trends in Recent Christian Worldviews
In reporting this most recent information, Barna indicated, “Overall, the range of ideas adopted from worldviews other than Biblical Theism is staggering.” Pay attention to a few of these often-contradictory findings from this most informative research showcased in the latest report released in January of this year:
- Approximately one-quarter of the adult population firmly believes a messiah has been promised and will make His initial visit to earth to save His people. Yet, they also say that nobody really knows for certain whether a higher power or God exists.
- The research also discovered that millions of Americans accept worldview perspectives from several additional, yet contradictory life philosophies such as Marxism, Nihilism, and Islam.
- Indeed, these findings are even more startling by comparison to those reported in “Think Like Jesus.” The new results now show that most Americans (68%) still consider themselves to be Christian. However, amongst these self-identified Christians, only a mere 6% have a biblical worldview — a figure that is even more alarming considering that it has dropped a whopping 33% since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Based on this newly minted statistical information, we are simply left with Mr. Barna to “wonder what message people are getting from churches.” Barna gets more to the point when he proclaims,
“Discovering that so many millions of regular churchgoers possess indisputably unbiblical thinking about topics as fundamental as salvation, morality, and sin is an unmistakable sign that church leaders must reconsider how we are approaching the spiritual development of Americans. Whatever we’re doing clearly is failing.”
In essence, what we are seeing unfold before our very eyes is that immorality and heathenism are gaining ground in America not only in the name of religion in general but actually and specifically in the name of Christianity — and it is not Christian at all.
Confronting the Crisis of Complacency in American Christianity
Without a doubt, there are God-fearing, Bible-based pastors, churches, and believers scattered throughout our nation. However, the entirety of Barna’s research clearly indicates what the cultural barometers have been telling close observers all along — in general terms, the church in America has been an abject failure. The message that has held sway in the pulpits across this nation for too long has been one of comfort, materialism, acceptance of sin as a norm, avoidance of conflict, and lukewarm putridness of compromise. As Patrick Morley, of Man in the Mirror fame, would say, we as a people have sought the god we want and not the God who is, and they are not the same. We have been led in our unseeing journey by leaders who, like a bad umpire in a baseball game, are blind in one eye and can’t see out of the other!
The basic problem with Christianity in modern-day America is not that it has been tried and found wanting. Rather, the real issue in America is that it has never been tried at all. The Gospel was never intended to be stored behind stained glass windows, but rather to walk in glorious proclamation amongst the people. Yet while self-identifying Christians sit in air-conditioned pews in creature comfort in America, throughout the rest of the world true Christianity is under siege. Make no mistake; there is no shadow of doubt among those blessed believers who are suffering martyrdom for the sake of the Gospel. There are those who, at this very moment as you read these words, are willingly giving up everything they hold dear, including their own lives, just for the sweet privilege of naming the name of Christ their Lord. Their stories are resounding through the heavens and are giving poignant witness not only to their honor and the integrity of their firm belief but to the dismal spiritual condition of self-absorbed, so-called American Christianity as well. Just like the American soldiers in the battle of the bulge, the enemy is in our midst, and we are ill-prepared to identify his presence much less mitigate his effectiveness.
The Rise to Revive Authentic Faith in America
At Southern Evangelical Seminary, our hearts are heavy. They are heavy for the pain of our brothers and sisters in Christ who are being tortured in the Middle East, in Africa, in Communist China, and in other areas all across the globe. But our hearts are also heavy because we can see the storm clouds brewing over our beloved nation. We can already smell the stench of persecution that is coming to Christ's followers and which, in fact, has already reached our shorelines. The time is near in this country when there will be a cost for proclaiming Christ as Lord, and there will be a separation of the counterfeit from the real.
It is only by the Word of God that we, as individuals or as Christ’s church, can be cleansed from this stain of deceitfulness and sin. That is why we have developed a plan for a counter-revolution of biblically-based faith and morality. We are calling it “Truth that Matters,” and it is our prayer that it will become a blueprint for the resurrection of Christ’s church in our nation and a revival of true faith in our families and individuals all across America. By the power of His Spirit, we will be standing in the gap in the sincere hope that God will yet spare our nation and that destruction will not be our lot until such time as our hearts can turn toward the only truth that matters — the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God knows how desperately the American church needs “to arise from the dead” and allow Christ’s “new day to dawn” in our midst. As true Christians still have breath, there is hope for our nation. But to be sure, our time is short, and we must now “redeem the time” that is still left.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/RyanJLane
