Editor's Note: Writers Stephen McGarvey and Cheryl Johnston spoke with George Barna, founder and president of the Barna Research Group, last summer about his book "Boiling Point" and about the future of Christians and the Church in America. Barna Research Group is a leading research organization tracking religious and cultural trends in America. Following are a few highlights from the interview.
Crosswalk.com: Your statistics are fascinating about the future of the church over the next 10 years. Where should the average Christian who reads your book get started?
Barna: Well, I think self-examination is a great place. One of the frightening things that we find in our research all the time is that even among the tens of millions of born again Christians, about half of them would say that when it comes to Christianity, they are not absolutely committed to the faith.
I'll tell you something that I know is kind of controversial, but I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that part of our problem is that we've made it too easy to be part of the Christian church. I think that there is very little sense of privilege and awe and responsibility that comes along in our culture with the notion of being considered a disciple of Christ. It is like, "Hey, I got my salvation taken care of, I've got my membership card at my church. Now let me go to the country club and do my thing."
The problem is that Christianity is not just about being a church member. It is about consistently trying to become more like Christ. It is about life transformation. So each individual has to ask, "Well so what? What difference does it make if I'm really a follower of Christ, and if I'm a follower of Christ, what difference should I be making in this world that this guy Barna is describing? Do I have a responsibility here to myself, to my Savior, to my church, to my children, to my country? What is the nature of that responsibility and if someone was watching my life and trying to figure out, 'What is his nature? Who is he really?' What is the conclusion they would come to? Would they see me as a Christian first?"
Crosswalk.com: Would you say a large part of that problem is a lack of biblical teaching in the churches or a lack of focus on studying the bible for oneself in a church?
Barna: Well that's partly it. I think that there are a number of different issues that come into play there. One has to do with modeling. We don't have many individuals that we can look to and say, "Aaaha! That is what it looks like in practice." So we need those role models.
Secondly, the whole notion of accountability. We basically have thrown that out and we don't want to bring that into the church. Why? Because there might be conflict, there might be confrontation. We wouldn't be warm and fuzzy. It might not be really comfortable, we might not be secure if we have that accountability thing going. And yet the Christian faith is all about accountability.
Then, thirdly, you look at the nature of the teaching that we are getting and our commitment to growing in our faith. As you suggest, most people do not really spend very much time or devote very much effort to any kind of systematic, long term, goal-oriented study of what scripture teaches. We found that very few Christians really have any kinds of goals for what kind of believer or spiritual person they want to become, which is kind of like constantly making it up as we go along.
Crosswalk.com: What role do you think small groups or cell groups play in that? I'm kind of surprised by a statistic that one out of six American adults is involved in some kind of a small group.
Barna: Surprised in what way?
Crosswalk.com: It seems kind of high, but even if one out of six are involved, it seems that with small groups, they do tend to focus a lot on the touchy feely. Then you say that your prediction for the next 10 years is that many more Sunday school programs will shut down. Would you say that the shift of the church from Sunday school programs is helping or hurting the church?
Barna: One of the things that research has shown us is that even though more churches are moving towards small groups, those small groups may be doing more to inhibit people's spiritual growth than to facilitate that growth. Part of the reason is that, first of all, in most groups, you have an individual who's in charge of the group or leading the group who really doesn't know Scripture very well. So if they're leading a discussion or trying to teach on things, more often than not, what you wind up with is heresy rather than Christian orthodoxy.
The group dynamics I think lend themselves well to building deeper relationships. There is great potential for accountability, but we're not doing a very good job at that accountability, because, of course, most people don't have any goals that they can be held accountable for in terms of spiritual growth. The hope is that we can make people feel like they're really part of the church if they are integrated into this smaller, more intimate group that meets at a more comfortable time and a more comfortable place. But we found that, frankly, small groups are not a very effective means for communicating the truths of the faith. They're much better for helping people think through the applications that maybe they've been taught in another venue.
