Sproul - Essential Truths of the Christian Faith

In the decade of the 1980s, a massive and comprehensive study of religion in American life was undertaken by the Gallup organization. Though the sharpest trends and indicators of the study were published and evaluated in various magazines, the mountain of data collected was generally not made public. George Gallup then submitted the data to Christianity Today, who, in turn, selected a few theologians to examine and evaluate the significance of the information. I was among the group who had the privilege of analyzing the complete data.

The results of the study were as terrifying as they were revealing. Among the more noteworthy elements were the following: (1) more than sixty million Americans claim to have had a personal conversion experience, and (2) an extraordinarily high percentage of Americans said they believed the Bible to be the Word of God.

Counterbalancing these affirmations, however, was the clear revelation that Americans, even evangelical Americans, are woefully ignorant of the content of Scripture and even more ignorant of the history of Christianity and classical Christian theology. Perhaps most alarming was the realization that the mass of people who claim to have biblical faith have had little or no impact on the structures and values of American culture. For example, some recent studies concerning sexual ethics and the question of abortion suggest that the difference in behavior between evangelical Christians and secularists is negligible. In other words, the clear message of these studies is this: Christian faith is making little or no difference in peoples lives and in American culture. How accurate these studies are is a matter of debate.

How can this be? One possibility quickly comes to mind. Perhaps many of those who claim to have had a conversion experience are mistaken or lying about their conversion. However, if only half of those who claim to be born again are in fact regenerate, we must conclude that America has experienced a revival more widespread than the Great Awakening.

If such a revival has happened, then we must ask why there is so little evidence of its impact on culture. We seem to have had a huge revival with little or no reformation. Indeed, the discrepancy between revival and reformation would be the greatest ever to occur in the history of Christianity. Such a revival is mere fiction. It is spurious. It is not true biblical faith that has been revived.

A more optimistic view of this anomaly would be this: The chief reason we observe so little evidence of the revivals impact on life and culture is because it is too early to discern it. The millions of people who have been born again are still in their spiritual infancy. When they arrive at spiritual maturity, their impact on the nation will surely be felt.

In the secular culture, teenagers tend to have a powerful impact on the shape of values, but not as great an impact as those adults who are in positions of power and influence. Infants, however, have virtually no impact on the shaping of cultural values.

Their voice is not heard save in their cries for more milk. Infants have not developed their thinking and skills to a level whereby their counsel is sought in the family or the community. They must mature, they must come of age before they are put in positions of family or community leadership.

We hope that those who remain in spiritual infancy will indeed grow to maturity and have a strong impact on the family, the community, the nation, and the world. So far that has not happened. It may never happen. But for a true spiritual revival and reformation to take place, several barriers must be overcome. It is crucial for the Christian to understand these.