Pastors FAILING: Shocking Study Reveals THIS! | Pastor Reacts

The Shocking Survey of Pastors and Biblical Worldview

The study found that only 12 of children's and youth pastors hold a biblical worldview. Only 43 have a biblical worldview when it comes to matters of sin, salvation, and one's relationship with God.

What is going on in today's seminaries? You need to share this with somebody. Somebody needs to hear this. This is ridiculous. You might say, well, I'm not Timothy, Nate. I'm not a pastor called to leadership, Nate.

Well, I got news for you. I'm starting to think that the ones that are in leadership right now weren't called either. Welcome back to another video here at Wise Disciple. My name is Nate Sala, and I'm helping you become the effective Christian that you are meant to be.

That means thinking, speaking, and leading more like Jesus day by day. Make sure to like and subscribe to the channel, but also do me a favor and share this video, this one in particular, to somebody else, okay?

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I've partnered with Logos because it is a game changer for the student of scripture, whether that's the regular congregant or the pastor at the pulpit. Logos is going to help you go deeper into the scripture than ever before.

And I got news for you, after this article, man, we're all going to need to get into the scripture deeper than ever before. Click the link in the notes for the special offer there. A new nationwide survey of America's Christian pastors shows that a majority of pastors lack a biblical worldview.

That's right out of the gate. That's like first line of the article. A majority of pastors lack a biblical worldview. In fact, just slightly more than a third, 37 possess a biblical worldview, and the majority, 62%, hold a hybrid worldview known as syncretism.

This is from Factbook. So I've opened up my Logos app and I typed in syncretism at the very top, and now I'm in a pocket dictionary of theological terms. Listen to what syncretism is. Syncretism is the attempt to assimilate differing or opposite doctrines and practices, especially between philosophical and religious systems, resulting in a new system altogether, in which the fundamental structure and tenets of each have been changed.

Syncretism of the gospel occurs when its essential character is confused with elements from the culture. In syncretism, the gospel is lost as the church simply confirms what is already present in the culture.

In other words, syncretism is antithetical to the gospel, it is antithetical to biblical teaching, and it is, in fact, heresy. All right, let's go back to the article. These shocking findings are part of the American Worldview Inventory 2022 conducted by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University and administered to Christian pastors to better understand the worldviews that drive their thinking and behavior.

As veteran researcher and CRC Director of Research George Barna explains, it's just further evidence that the culture is influencing the American church more than the churches are influencing the culture.

According to the latest report, the level of biblical worldview varies by the pastoral position held. Now, this is interesting, okay? Here's how it breaks down. Watch this. Among senior pastors, for instance, 41 percent hold a biblical worldview.

The senior pastors, 41 percent hold a biblical worldview. The highest incidence among any of the five pastoral positions studied, next highest was, get ready for this, 28 percent among associate pastors.

That's an F, ladies and gentlemen. That's an F on the report card. When a child comes home and hands over the report card to their father, and the father sees this grade, he's not happy, okay? How much more our heavenly Father who sees this?

One of the more concerning revelations emerging from the research is the worldview of pastors who work with young people, Barna noted. The study found that only 12 percent of children's and youth pastors hold a biblical worldview, 12 percent.

And among teaching pastors, the level of biblical worldview is a mere 13 percent. Among those that teach others, this is absolutely a shock. I mean, it's just, it's—you don't have the words, you know what I mean?

What happened, guys? What is going on in today's seminaries, in today's churches? How are these people even getting hired at all? You know, I've candidated for senior pastor. I know what the process is like.

My friends have candidated as well. There should be intense scrutiny as to the theology of the pastor, his adherence to biblical doctrine, his views even on secondary issues. All of this and more must be explored before he takes the reins of a church or steps into leading a particular arm of ministry within a church.

This is absolutely insane. By the way, it's not just pastors. Roman Catholic priests were also included in this study. So if you press into the details, there's a link at the very top there. You can actually look at the details of the survey, the analysis as it breaks down, by number.

And one of the things that I found interesting was they break down by denomination, you know? So you have evangelical Protestant pastors, you have charismatic Pentecostal pastors, right? But they include Roman Catholic parish priests as well.

And here's what's fascinating. When you notice the differentiation between denominations, the one with the highest biblical worldview is non-denominational. The one with the lowest biblical worldview, Roman Catholic.

I don't say that to pick a fight, okay? I think I'm saying that because we all should be shocked by this. When it comes to this survey, we should all be on the same team here, and we should be all reacting in the same way.

This is really bad. This is really bad. A person's worldview primarily develops before the age of 13, then goes through a period of refinement during their teens and 20s. Therefore, from a worldview development perspective, a church's most important ministers are the children's pastor and the youth pastor.

And we just discovered, in the survey, only 12 percent of these folks have a biblical worldview. You need to share this with somebody. Somebody needs to hear this. This is ridiculous. Discovering that seven out of every eight of those pastors lack a biblical worldview helps to explain why so few among the nation's youngest generations are developing a heart and a mind for biblical principles and the ways of life, and why our society seems to have run wild over the last decade.

I'm going to defend my brothers here for a moment. There are a lot of reasons why our society has run wild. Barna was careful right there at the outset to say that this is a factor. It's not the factor.

He's right. It's one of many factors. On the other hand, this does not help matters at all. By the way, if you're wondering, what is the solution, Nate? What do you think the solution is? Stick around.

I'm going to share that with you at the very end of the video. Hey, real quick. I'm so grateful that you're watching. If I've earned the right to get your sub, I'd love it if you would just click the like and subscribe button.

It would really help me to get the video out to more and more people. I really do appreciate you. The latest report from the AWVI 2022 found that the prevailing worldview among pastors is best described as syncretism, the blending of ideas and applications from a variety of holistic worldviews into a unique but inconsistent combination that represents their personal preferences.

More than six of every 10 pastors, 62 hold a syncretistic worldview. This trend is also being seen more widely in American culture with almost nine out of 10 U .S. adults, 88%, embracing syncretism as their primary worldview, according to a report from last year's study of competing worldviews.

According to the latest release, pastors have a biblical worldview in only one of eight worldview categories measured. So pastors do have a biblical worldview, but in only one of the eight. Overall, 57 of all pastors think and act in consistently biblical ways—get ready for this—regarding the purpose of life and their calling.

That's it! So they have a biblical worldview when it comes to being called as a pastor, but then it just falls apart in every other way when it comes to shepherding their flock as a pastor? Is that how this works?

I'm a little upset. I'm a little upset, guys. Moving on. A minority of all Christian pastors thinks and acts biblically in each of the other seven categories of worldview measurement. Specifically, only 47 have a biblical worldview regarding family and the value of life.

But wait a second, look at this. Only 43 have a biblical worldview when it comes to matters of sin, salvation, and one's relationship with God. That is an F. That's an F on the report card, guys. Lowest of all is a category—we're gonna get into this in just a second—lowest of all is a category that might have been expected to top the list.

Lowest of all is what they expected to top the list. Beliefs and behaviors related to the Bible, truth, and morality. Only 39 of all pastors have a biblical worldview in this area. Just wow. This is heartbreaking.

What are you thinking? What are you—how are you reacting right now? Are you as upset as I am? Did you know this? So again, this survey is kind of fresh, so this is probably news to a lot of you, but in your sort of anecdotal survey of the landscape, could you have guessed that this is the case?

One more thing that I found interesting. Other recent research we have conducted suggests most pastors believe that they are theologically in tune with the Bible. So their breath stinks, but they don't know that their own breath stinks.

Is that basically, like, is that what we're supposed to conclude here? Aye, aye, aye, guys. This is—what do we do about this, ladies and gentlemen? What do we do? I'm curious to hear your response. Let me know what you think, you know?

If you're at all concerned about this, let somebody else know about this too. Share this video with somebody else. Get the word out. This is a problem. Here's what I will offer in terms of a response.

The Problem of Syncretism in the Church

It's funny because, you know, in one sense, this is already—we've been prepared for this as Christians for a long time. For thousands of years, we've been prepared for this. The solution has been under our noses the whole time.

But, right, we're trying to wrestle right now with this, like, what do we do when our leaders fail us? 2 Timothy 4, verse 3,. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

So, what's the solution? As those with itching ears accumulate teachers to suit their own syncretistic passions, right? It's happening right now. What do we do? Here's the solution. Verse 5,. As for you, always be sober-minded.

Endure suffering. And here it is. Do the work of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry. Do you know what your ministry is? Do you know what the work of the evangelist is that has been placed upon you in your circles of influence?

You might say, well, I'm not Timothy, Nate. I'm not a pastor called to leadership, Nate. Well, I got news for you. I'm starting to think that the ones that are in leadership right now weren't called either.

12 of youth pastors have a biblical worldview. Maybe it's time for those of us who love the Lord, and we love His Word, and we respect it, stop making excuses, and start getting involved in leadership.

Amen? Some of you might say, well, no, I really am not called, Nate, to be a pastor. That's just not my calling. Okay, fine. What is the job that you have as a Christian? Okay? You're not called to be a teacher, pastor, preacher.

That's fine. What is the job that Jesus gave all of us? Matthew 28, verse 19. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them—here it is—to observe all that I have commanded you.

And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. You see the solution in there too, right? What's the solution? You're not called to be a pastor, but what's the solution for you? Teach others to observe all of Christ's commands.

In other words, teach them what Christ said to do. Teach them the Bible. If the problem is pastors lack a biblical worldview, what's the solution? Read the Bible. And that's our job anyway as disciples of Jesus Christ.

We are to go and make more disciples. And in that dynamic, we teach them what the Bible says. See, a lot of times we think of the Great Commission, and we remember the first part, right? Go therefore and make disciples.

We forget verse 20, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. Bible study is right in there, guys. It's part of the Great Commission. And you don't need to be ordained, and you don't need to go to seminary to make disciples.

You just need to know how to read the Bible, because guess what? That's your job as a Christian every day, is to read the Bible. So what's the solution? You're looking at—the article has upset you the way it has upset me.

You blew a gasket reading this thing. What's the solution? You! Be the effective Christian that you are meant to be. If you're thinking to yourself, man, somebody better get out there and fix that problem with that whole pastor thing, I'm saying you're the answer.

Take what you know. Take what we've been talking about on this channel. And there's plenty of other brothers out there making great content too. Take what all the stuff that the Lord has brought in front of you.

Use it. Apply it. Bless others with the giftings that God has given you. Make more disciples and train up the church to know what the Bible actually says. That's my solution. And that's a long-term solution.

We should be targeting the next generation, training them up in discipleship structures so that they can mitigate against this horrifically low number of youth pastors who apparently exist out there with 12 of them have a biblical worldview.

Let's focus on training up the next generation. Let's disciple them in our own circles of influence. Let's teach them what the Bible says, right? That's the solution. And that's a long-term solution.

You can't microwave that answer, right? That doesn't take 90 seconds. That takes 90 days. That takes months and years. But that's my solution. What do you think? Am I onto something? Am I way off? Let me know in the comments below.

Discipleship, the Great Commission, and the Way Forward

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