A Christian researcher says churches need to do a better job of helping equip their members with a biblical worldview.
George Barna, founder of Barna Research Group (barna.org), says although 85 percent of adults in the U.S. say they are Christians, most do not have a view of life and the world that represents traditional biblical beliefs. The reason for this, he says, is that, by and large, most Christians do not take the time to develop a biblical worldview.
Barna details his findings and their implications in his book titled Think Like Jesus: Make the Right Decision Every Time (Integrity Publishers, 2003). In it, the author claims Christians stay so busy that they generally never take time to do any deep thinking.
"We're more interested in having a lot of experiences and achieving a lot of things -- accomplishing a lot in life -- than we are in really reflecting on what matters and what's true and how to do things that have eternal value," Barna says.
The Barna Research Group's latest survey found that 60 percent of the born-again adults in the United States shared their faith with others this past year. However, Barna says American Christians need to do a better job of holding one another accountable to their faith and the standards for living outlined in the Bible.
In fact, the Christian cultural analyst says that accountability is one of the key biblical principles that needs to be acquired as a person develops a Christian worldview.
According to Barna, "If we say that we love each other, that we want nothing but the best for each other, and that together we're trying to honor God, to glorify God, to serve him, and to love him, then yes, we need to be accountable to someone other than ourselves."
The author says the Bible teaches Christians that part of love is being disciplined to know and to do what's right. Barna asserts that "[God] does that with us, we need to do it with our children, and we ought to be doing it within the church."