Open Letter to John Piper #0.013
Introduction
Pages 13-14 – A Profound Mistake
+ “I want to say loud and clear that when the Barna Group uses the term born again to describe American church-goers whose lives are indistinguishable from the world, and who sin as much as the world, and sacrifice for others as little as the world, and embrace injustice as readily as the world, and covet things as greedily as the world, and enjoy God-ignoring entertainment as enthusiastically as the world—when the term born again is used to describe these professing Christians, the Barna Group is making a profound mistake. It is using the biblical term born again in a way that would make it unrecognizable by Jesus and the biblical writers.”
I agree completely. (Also, for those readers who desire to read more regarding what the Bible has to say about how we as believers in Christ ought to live differently than non-believers, please read 1 Thess. 5:23-24, 1 Timothy 6:3-5, and Hebrews 10:10-14. I can reference many more passages if you like; just let me know!)
+ “Here is the way the researchers defined born again in their research:
“Born again Christians” were defined in these surveys as people who said they have made “a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today” and who also indicated they believe that when they die they will go to Heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. Respondents were not asked to describe themselves as “born again.” Being classified as “born again” is not dependent upon church or denominational affiliation or involvement.” (source)
“In other words, in this research the term born again refers to people who say things. They say, “I have a personal commitment to Jesus Christ. It’s important to me.” They say, “I believe that I will go to Heaven when I die. I have confessed my sins and accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior.” Then the Barna Group takes them at their word, ascribes to them the infinitely important reality of the new birth, and then slanders that precious biblical reality by saying that regenerate hearts have no more victory over sin than unregenerate hearts.”
According to a recent Gallup poll, 90% of American adults honestly reported that they regularly lie. With this in mind, we simply cannot believe Barna’s survey to be an accurate reflection of the number of Americans who are truly saved. I’m eager to read more.
