(Protestia) In a new nationwide survey released by George Barna for the Arizona Christian University, it’s revealed the majority of Christian pastors do not have a biblical worldview, with the Executive Pastor having the lowest that is on par with the culture at large.
Barna defines “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 their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do 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. They explain:
The proportion varies by the pastoral position held. Among Senior Pastors, four out of 10 (41%) have a biblical worldview—the highest incidence among any of the five pastoral positions studied. Next highest was the 28% among Associate Pastors. Less than half as many Teaching Pastors (13%) and Children’s and Youth Pastors (12%) have a biblical worldview. The lowest level of biblical worldview was among Executive Pastors—only 4% have consistently biblical beliefs and behaviors.
What is an Executive Pastor?
Bob Buford invented the role of the Executive Pastor after conversations with his mentor, business strategist Peter Drucker. Identifying churches as an area he wanted to impact, Buford formed Leadership Network in 1984, inviting pastors and senior leaders of large and burgeoning megachurches to join him for several brainstorming meetings, picking up the tab on the way.
Their goal was to figure out how to handle the complicated organizational structure of a megachurch, deciding that it would best be run similar to a corporation for the most impact and growth, eventually creating the new church role, called the Executive Pastor. He (or she) who would function as the CEO of the church, rather than the shepherd, and typically require business degrees in order to be hired. According to Stand up For the Truth:
Three key players are carrying forth Peter Drucker’s legacy: Rick Warren, Bob Buford and Bill Hybels, who all studied extensively under their friend, Peter Drucker, and are considered the Druckerite “trinity.” These three men more than any others are responsible for innovating the church by purposely changing congregations from a pastoral ministry model to a CEO / Innovative Change Agent leadership model.
What’s more, all of these innovations were strategically crafted under the careful eye of Peter Drucker himself. And all of these innovations were incubated, introduced, and injected into the church through the coordinated efforts of Drucker’s disciples through their different but intimately connected organizations; Leadership Network, the Purpose Driven Network and the Willow Creek Association.
Given the extensive harm and wide-ranging watering down these institutions have done to the church, including introducing church growth strategies like seeker-sensitivism to the world, it’s little surprise their biblical worldview is non-existent.
Reposted with Protestia’s permission
CRN’s homepage contains a list of professing Christians to keep an eye on. Scroll down to WARNING. The list contains those to mark and avoid (Rom 16:17-18) including Rick Warren and Bill Hybels
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