Ed Vitagliano
AFA Journal news editor
October 2014 – George Barna just can’t seem to help himself. Since he founded Barna Research Group in 1984, he has been observing trends and quantifying them via his skills as a sociologist and pollster.
Having handed off Barna Research to other interests, George Barna now heads the American Culture and Faith Institute, which is more of a commentary outlet for the number-cruncher. Barna currently spends his time trying to wake up America’s Christians and their pastors to what is happening all around us.
“We are actually creating the largest and perhaps only longitudinal study of conservatives that has ever been put together,” Barna said during a July interview on AFR’s Today’s Issues.
One area of focus that seems to be on Barna’s heart is America’s pastors. “We are constantly interviewing pastors of theologically conservative churches across the country,” he said.
What he’s found has him worried, because for Barna, the numbers don’t lie. An overwhelming majority of theologically conservative pastors believe that the Scriptures address what are commonly called “social issues;” yet a much smaller percentage of those same ministers preach on those issues from the pulpit. (See chart below.)
For example, while 95% of these conservative pastors believe the Bible addresses the issue of abortion, only 47% dare to touch the subject in a sermon.
It gets worse. “Then when we ask them what else they are willing to do to get their people active in the political process,” Barna said, “it is almost nothing.”
That’s not to say that all the news is bad after Barna sifts through other poll numbers. For example, another nationwide survey by ACF found that 99% of theologically conservative pastors believe that “homosexuality should be discouraged by society,” while only 1% thought it should be accepted.
These pastors remain rock solid in the midst of shifting sand on this issue. Among white evangelicals as a whole, the split is still significantly against societal acceptance, but not as firm: 30% for and 61% against. (An additional 9% are undecided.) Within the general public, of course, the numbers are on the other side and trending away from a scriptural view: 57% are in favor of society accepting homosexuality, 36% against, with 7% undecided.
Nevertheless, Barna believes the reticence of pastors to engage on “culture war” issues may be part of the problem for the society at large.
“When we talk about the separation of church and state, it is the churches that have separated themselves from the activities of the state,” he said. “That is to the detriment of the state and its people.”
Why the dichotomy? Why is there a gulf between what pastors believe the Bible addresses and their willingness to preach about these things?
Barna said that many pastors make certain assumptions about their calling that undermine any impulse to boldly address controversial matters. What are those assumptions? He said:
[I]n our research we have asked pastors, “How would you know if your church is successful?” There are five factors that the vast majority of pastors turn to: 1) attendance, 2) giving, 3) number of programs, 4) number of staff and 5) square footage [of their buildings]. Now, all of those things are good measures except for one tiny fact: Jesus didn’t die for any of them. So, what I’m suggesting is they won’t, probably, get involved in politics because it is very controversial. Controversy keeps people from being in the seats, from giving money and from attending the programs. As they look at things, their tendency is to say, “Well, that is not part of my mission. My mission is to bring in more people and get them to understand certain things that I feel they should know.” Apparently those controversial things are not the things they want people to know.
Again, the data seem to indicate that churches have become a politics-and-culture-free zone. In an ACF research paper titled, “The Role of Faith in the 2012 Presidential Vote,” Barna said that in the last election, churches played a minor role dispensing information to parishioners concerning candidates and critical issues.
“In fact, since 2004, the last term in which a Republican was elected, the amount of information about elections and issues provided by churches has declined dramatically, especially in Protestant churches,” he said.
Some Christians seem worried about the power of a growing federal government to hinder pastors from preaching on social issues. However, the harsh reality seems to be that concern by clergy over “numbers” is causing a self-censorship that few secular governments would be able to impose on the church by force in Western nations.
“I’m hoping that through the research [we conduct] we can encourage pastors, as well as conservative voters across the country, to be better informed and to be more active and more influential in the [political] process,” Barna said.
If that happens, maybe a generation from now, Barna’s numbers will reveal a far different reality. 
A TIME TO SPEAK
With midterm federal elections and some state and local races on November 4, citizens may be wondering if there’s still time to register to vote.
They can answer that question and more at atimetospeak.com. Two features at the website are especially helpful:
• Voter registration – The voter registration laws are determined by individual states and vary. This tool explains the law and the process by which a citizen can register if there’s still time to do so.
• Voter “lookup” feature – Maybe you don’t know if you’re registered. That information is part of the public record, and you can find out here.
