In the United States, Christianity has long been a cornerstone of cultural identity. Yet, recent research paints a concerning picture of the faith’s current state. According to the 2025 American Worldview Inventory conducted by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, only 4% of American adults hold a biblical worldview—a significant decline from 12% four decades ago.
The Disconnect Between Identity and Belief
Despite 66% of Americans identifying as Christians, a mere 6% of these self-identified Christians possess a biblical worldview. This disparity highlights a troubling trend: many who label themselves as Christians do not adhere to foundational biblical teachings. For instance, a significant number of adults believe in concepts like eternal marriage or that people are born morally neutral, perspectives that diverge from traditional Christian doctrine.
The Role of the Church and Its Leaders
The situation within church leadership is equally alarming. A study revealed that only 37% of U.S. pastors hold a biblical worldview, with senior pastors faring slightly better at 41% . This suggests that the influence of a biblical worldview is waning even among those entrusted with guiding congregations.
A Call to Action: Ministering with Love and Patience
Given these statistics, it’s evident that many individuals, even within the church, may not fully understand or embrace the core tenets of the Christian faith. This underscores the importance of not assuming a person’s salvation based solely on their self-identification as a Christian. As believers, we are called to minister to one another, engaging in meaningful conversations about the true Gospel. Such discussions can often reveal misunderstandings and offer opportunities to correct misconceptions with love and patience.
While it’s impractical to assess the beliefs of every church member, we can all contribute by sharing the Gospel with one another. Through these interactions, we can help clarify the true message of salvation and support each other in our spiritual journeys.
Conclusion
The landscape of Christianity in America is shifting, with many individuals holding beliefs that diverge from biblical teachings. As followers of Christ, it’s imperative that we engage with each other in meaningful ways, ensuring that the true Gospel is understood and embraced. By doing so, we fulfill our calling to minister to one another, fostering a community rooted in genuine faith and understanding.
Let us approach this task with love, patience, and a commitment to truth, trusting that through our efforts, many will come to a deeper understanding of the Gospel and its transformative power.
Assess Your Own World View
ACU compiles all of these statistics through their worldview assessment survey. You can take the survey for yourself to see how you fare by their standards. They do ask you to pay a fee of about $10 to complete the survey, which is fair. To be clear, this is not an advertisement for the survey, and I’m not suggesting that you purchase it. This survey was not authored by God Himself, and isn’t God’s truth in your life. You know the truth about yourself, this is only a tool you might find useful in self assessment. After you complete your survey, you’ll receive an email assessing your results. Again, this is only a survey, I reveal in this post how the results work, because I don’t want to influence your answers, and therefore your opportunity to honestly assess yourself.
I will say that the survey did convict me. I was pretty much flying through it until I reached one particular question which really pierced my heart and exposed a dominant failure in my life. I’ll be praying going forward for God to help me to overcome this failure, and that was certainly worth the $10 to me. Of course, the Bible has already revealed this to me, but sometimes we need a reminder to the things we’ve numbed ourselves to. I know the Word, and I teach it faithfully, but I am still a fallen man, and I still need to constantly be reminded not only that I need forgiveness, but that Jesus already has won His victory over the penalty of my sin, so that I can live in triumph under the grace of God.
