From 2026 American Worldview Inventory – Report #4:

Dr. George Barna, the Director of Research at the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, explained that the purpose of the Center’s annual worldview research is to help parents, church leaders, and Christian school educators identify areas of belief and behavior where Christians are missing the mark. “The theological disposition of Americans consists largely of safe statements and bland moral and spiritual guesses breeding lifestyles that are indistinguishable from those of people with distinctly different points of view and spiritual direction,” Barna commented. “Embarrassingly few self-described Christians have either studied or reflected on their alleged faith substantially enough to develop genuine, deeply-held biblical convictions and commitments. In fact, the data reveal that to millions of self-identified Christians, the Christian faith is not a Bible-based faith. That alleviates the need to know and relate their life to scriptural principles and laws,” he said. Responding to concerns about the implications of the survey findings, Barna pointed out that we can only improve society if we better understand it and then hold it accountable to biblical principles. “For instance, devoted, biblical Christians won’t like what the most common views about mankind reveal about Americans,” said Barna. “An objective spiritual profile of Americans portrays us as narcissistic, unappreciative of the gift of life, and consistently unbiblical in our views and behaviors related to both humanity and the supernatural.” “Further analysis discovered that there is a relative handful of people groups usually in-tune with and supportive of biblical Christianity, and a different handful of segments who are consistently dismissive of and oppositional to biblical Christianity,” explained the ACU professor and researcher. “The segments most in line with biblical teaching are those with a biblical worldview, biblically-defined disciples of Jesus, theologically-identified, born-again Christians—no surprises so far—but also people 75 or older.” Barna then noted that the segments least in tune with biblical perspectives on humanity and the supernatural included the Don’ts, people associated with non-Christian faiths—both expected to make this list—but also Catholics, Asians, LGBTQ individuals, people under 40 years of age, and residents of New England, New York, and California. Reflecting on the nature of American Christianity today, Barna noted that his research shows many disturbing patterns. “Increasingly, American Christianity is based on feelings rather than biblical truth or knowledge. Stunningly few adults in national survey after national survey qualify as biblically-defined disciples. That relates to the small percentage of adults who have established knowing and imitating Christ as their chief goal in life. More often, people’s chief objective—even among regular churchgoers or people who say they are deeply committed to their faith—is to experience life on their terms, in the quest for control, popularity, comfort, or pleasure,” Barna explained. The author of numerous bestselling books regarding the intersection of faith and culture, Barna then addressed the big picture of the nation’s religious condition. “Americans meander through life with a broad assortment of vague religious beliefs and volatile religious behaviors. That religious amnesia has produced a nation where the dominant worldview— adopted by nine out of 10 adults—is Syncretism, not biblical Christianity. Dismissing the importance of biblical truth principles and a holy lifestyle has led to tens of millions of regular church attenders settling in as notional Christians—people who embrace the label and the idea of Christianity but refuse to study, meditate, work, and sacrifice in ways that cultivate genuine Christ-like lives.” Barna expressed his disappointment in the response of the American Church to its present dilemma. “American culture is clearly influencing churches and congregants more than the Christian community influences the culture. Although that condition is no secret in Christian leadership circles, there seems to be little commitment to altering that reality. Have we forgotten that you cannot give what you do not have? Do we not realize that you only reproduce who you are? How can we justify continuing to obsess on church attendance and giving statistics as measures of success, to the exclusion of reliable evaluations of discipleship, when we also know that you get what you measure? Unless visionary and courageous Christian leaders, in families, churches and schools, confront these realities, America will continue down the road of false and anemic biblical Christianity.” Barna called on Christian leaders—parents, pastors, and teachers, in particular—to prepare for the beginning of the new ministry year in the Fall. “Imagine the spiritual momentum that could be generated if all of those leaders devoted themselves to an energetic, focused effort to renew believers in the fundamentals of biblical faith. As America celebrates its 250th anniversary of the freedom to pursue the genuine Christian faith without interference and manipulation, what a tremendous homage it would be to the nation’s founders, and to those who have fought and even died to maintain that freedom, to return to its spiritual roots and both strengthen and deepen that commitment to biblical faith.”

ANALYSIS

Surprisingly, Jesus making the law stricter (e.g., adultery is even a lustful eye) and his mandate for you to sell everything and give the money to the poor (like the disciples abandoned their jobs and lives to follow him) isn’t catching on for some reason, lol.