‘Watered-Down’ Gospel in U.S. Is Major Concern for 72 Percent of Pastors

The prevalence of a “watered-down” gospel and the culture’s shift to a secular age are the leading concerns among Protestant pastors about the Christian church in the United States, according to a new Barna survey.

Barna surveyed 547 U.S. Protestant pastors and asked them which issues they believed were a major concern facing the U.S. Christian church. 

Seven issues topped 50 percent: Watered-down gospel teachings, 72 percent; culture’s shift to a secular age, 66 percent; poor discipleship models, 63 percent; addressing complex social issues with biblical integrity, 58 percent; prosperity gospel teachings, 56 percent; reaching a younger audience, 56 percent and political polarization in the country, 51 percent. 

Three issues topped 40 percent but failed to reach 50 percent: Negative perceptions of the church, 46 percent; the diminished influence of churches in the community, 45 percent and church leader burnout/exhaustion, 40 percent. 

Few of those issues, though, were mentioned as a major problem when pastors were asked – in a separate question – to list their major concerns for their own church. On that list, only two issues topped 50 percent, with a total of nine reaching at least 20 percent: Reaching a younger audience, 51 percent; declining or inconsistent outreach and evangelism, 50 percent; declining or inconsistent volunteering, 36 percent; stagnating spiritual…