Barna: Pastors Need to Push Flocks Harder on Spiritual Matters
by Allie Martin
January 20, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A leading Christian researcher says if churches believe in the life-changing power of the gospel, they must do a better job when it comes to holding congregants to a higher standard. 
The Barna Group conducted two surveys which found a sizeable gap between the perception of pastors and the reality of people's devotion to God. For example, pastors were asked to identify what they felt was the most important priority for their church members. Overall, pastors said a majority of their members would put their faith in God at the top of the list -- but only 15 percent of church members surveyed listed their faith as their first priority. (See earlier article)
George Barna, president of the Barna Group, says core issues -- such as stewardship -- are not seen as valid indicators of church vitality. Barna says a church can establish a budget based on the notion that all church families are going to tithe (give 10 percent of their income) to the church. "But then what you're going to wind up with is a lot of disappointed people," the researcher asserts, "because we know that currently only six percent of born-again families actually tithe.
"On the other hand," he continues. "setting the standards so low that there's really no reason for people to give more generously and more biblically ... creates a different kind of problem."
Similarly, evangelism is apparently not a priority in most churches. "The fact that most churched adults do not verbally share the gospel in a given year is not deemed problematic," Barna's survey summary states.
The researcher says his findings indicate that many pastors and church leaders are more concerned with leading an institution than they are with people's spiritual growth and maturity. Pastors, he says, are often focused on building programs, budgets, and activities, while church members are seeking a deeper walk with the Lord.
Barna explains there is a "growing number of people" who are saying they want more of God in their life and they are willing to do whatever it takes to get it. But many of those, he claims, are saying "I'm not sure that I can get it from a local church. I may have to go outside the box, outside the walls to find that kind of relationship and opportunity and network so that I can really be the Church rather than think so much about am I just attending a church."
Barna encourages church leaders to stop pandering for popularity, and instead to challenge their congregations to a higher and more challenging standard. For example, he observes in his findings that 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," says the Barna report, "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."
The surveys questioned 627 pastors and 1002 adults nationwide, and were conducted in October and November 2005.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
