Oh, Oh...
- Pastor Jared
- Jun 5
- 3 min read
Each year Ligonier Ministries and Lifeway Research combine to do a survey entitled, “The State of Theology.” According to their website, “It is a nationwide survey revealing how people today view key doctrines of the Christian faith.”
This year, I think it might be the first, they did the survey in Canada. Some of the findings are a bit disturbing. Full disclosure, when I added up the numbers you will read below I included only those that were either on the agree (strongly or somewhat) or disagree (strongly or somewhat) side; there was a category for unsure, which I included in parenthesis.
56% agree that there is one God in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. (18% unsure) 64% believe that the Holy Spirit is a force but is not a personal being. (23% unsure) Further, 45% agree that Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God. (18% unsure) Furthermore, only 52% agree that God is a perfect being and cannot make a mistake. (15% unsure)
73% agree that everyone is born innocent in the eyes of God (11% unsure). 60% agree that everyone sins a little, but most people are good by nature. (8% unsure)
28% agree that the Bible, like all sacred writings, contains helpful accounts of ancient myths but is not literally true. (16% unsure) Further, only 34% agree that the Bible has the authority to tell us what to do (10% unsure)
28% agree that every Christian has an obligation to join a local church, (13% unsure) while 60% agree that worshiping alone or with family is a valid replacement for regularly attending church. (19% unsure)
64% agree that God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam (17% unsure)
48% agree that biblical accounts of the physical (bodily) resurrection of Jesus are completely accurate and that the event actually occurred. (24% unsure)
50% agree that the Bible’s condemnation of homosexual behaviour doesn’t apply today (20% unsure)
34% agree that sex outside of traditional marriage is a sin (9% unsure)
34% agree that abortion is a sin (11% unsure)
42% agree that people should be able to choose their gender regardless of their biological sex (12% unsure)
To be honest, I’m not shocked by these findings. The Christian church, if there is an entity in Canada that can be referred to as such is, unfortunately, quite secular and therefore quite weak and irrelevant. Given what the church ‘believes’ it is shocking that so many people still go to church at all. Sadly, most so-called Christians don’t look much different or believe much different from the unbelievers around them. Most churches look no different than the social clubs of the world around them. But, though not shocked, I am concerned, as we should all be. There are many people who are happily going to churches without lampstands, believe in a God who doesn’t exist, and are following a gospel and a Savior who doesn’t save.
So what do we do about it?
I like the conclusions of the surveyors…
All this suggests the ongoing need for (1) pastors and ministry leaders who are trained in sound doctrine and can communicate the truths of Scripture to their congregations, (2) resources to help Christians grow in their understanding of God’s Word, and (3) targeted teaching in areas where evangelicals embrace secular ideology over biblical truth.
To this list I would add two things:
Find a church that is faithfully doing all of these things, submit yourself to its teaching and leadership, and commit yourself to serving there. If you are not sure where to find a church like this, I can think of one, Covenant Reformed Church. You are all more than welcome here.
We need to evangelize church people as much as non-churched people. Many who are lost are convinced they are not. They are Pharisees, Sadducees, or worse and they need the true gospel of salvation.
May God continue to find us at CRC faithful.
Soli Deo Gloria
