USA (MNN) ― Secularism is gaining ground in the United States. That's according to results from the American Religious Identification Survey. The report found that 15-percent of the survey respondents claimed no religion at all.
"Among the Christian groups, the tendency is to move either to a more sectarian or to a more generalized form of Christian identity at the expense of a denominational identity," the study said.
That's further backed by findings from the Barna Research Group. Overall, the current research revealed that only 9% of all American adults have a biblical worldview.
For the study cited, Barna defines a "biblical worldview" as believing that absolute moral truth exists; the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches; Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic; a person cannot earn his way into Heaven by trying to be good or doing good works; Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and God is the all-knowing, all-powerful Creator of the world who still rules the universe today.
A worldview serves as a person's decision-making filter and a grid through which experiences, relationships and opportunities are interpreted. It has a dramatic influence on a person's choices in any given situation.
Respondents who have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is important in their life today and who are certain that they will go to Heaven after they die only because they confessed their sins and accepted Christ as their Savior were labeled "born again Christians."
The study discovered that they were twice as likely as the average adult to possess a biblical worldview. However, that meant that even among born again Christians, less than one out of every five (19%) had such an outlook on life.
The numbers don't shock those involved in evangelistic work. David Shibley with Global Advance Ministries says, "I do believe that there can be an even further slide. I believe we have precedent for this; we've seen it happen in Europe. Europe is considerably more secularized than the United States, and we are following a very European pattern in departing from the Gospel, in departing from the truths of Scripture."
Global Advance teams empower national church leaders and business leaders to evangelize and disciple their own and surrounding nations. They teach that a good "frontline shepherd" is one with renewed strength. With it, they can go back into the battle with a vision in their hearts and tools in their hands. In essence, the key to turning around a national spiritual decline starts with one person who has a well-grounded faith and the vision to share it.
Shibley urges believers to respond before things further deteriorate. "If you want to see what America will look like spiritually in 20 years, just basically look at the continent of Europe UNLESS there is an intervention of God, and unless there is clear and huge proclamation of the Gospel--not only through media, but also through the personal lives of believers."
