Survey Shows Many Pastors Misread Congregants' True Prioritie
by Allie Martin
January 16, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Two national surveys conducted by the Barna Research Group show that, while pastors claim members of their congregations are deeply committed to God, lifestyles and actions of the congregants indicate otherwise. The Barna surveys asked pastors what their congregational members are most passionate about. On average, the church leaders' responded that 70 percent of adults in their churches considered their personal faith in God above all other priorities. In fact, as many as one out of every six pastors believed that 90 percent or more of the adults in their churches hold their relationship with God as their top priority in life.
However, a sample of adults asked to identify their top priority in life provided a different outcome. Only one out of every seven adults put their faith in God at the top of their priority list. George Barna, president of the Barna Group, believes the discrepancy between the pastors' beliefs about congregants' priorities and the church members' actual priorities can easily be explained.
One problem, Barna says, is that too many pastors often use superficial measures such as church attendance to gauge commitment among their congregations. "Looking at attendance, it's good to fill up the church and to raise the money for the programs," he observes, "but the reality is, Jesus didn't die on the cross to fill church auditoriums."
What Christ died for, Barna asserts, is "so that people's lives would be transformed and He would be number one in their lives. Attendance really does nothing to measure that." Nor, he points out, does it give any clear indication of people's commitment to specific aspects of their Christian faith, such as evangelism -- something else the recent study showed is not a priority in most churches.
"About seven out of every eight churches don't even look at whether or not their people are in fact sharing their faith in Christ with others," the Christian author and researcher notes. "And even fewer churches, of course, take a look at what is happening in those instances where the gospel is being shared with nonbelievers."
Barna believes surveys like these are important, especially for a contemporary culture in which those in the pews are for the most part lukewarm about their faith. He says the results could help church leaders better gauge congregants' priorities and could also help churches reconsider how they evaluate their ministry.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
