Christianity Today

Christianity offers a belief system that is, as Paul tells Festus, "true and reasonable." I can't think of a more critical time for pastors, scholars, and laypeople to be grounded in a biblical worldview and to defend it clearly to those hungering for truth.

But are we prepared for such a challenge? George Barna recently completed a tour of American churches and came back with a dismaying report that most church and lay leaders—90 percent, according to one survey—have no understanding of worldview. How are we going to contend with competing philosophies if we're not even rooted in our own truth system?

Ironically, just as there seem to be encouraging signs in the culture, there are also signs that the church is dumbing down, moving from a Word-driven message to an image- and emotion-driven message (note how many Christian radio stations have recently converted from talk and preaching to all music).

It would be the supreme irony—and a terrible tragedy—if we found ourselves slipping into postmodernity just when the broader culture has figured out it's a dead end.

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Related Elsewhere

Recent Charles Colson columns for Christianity Today include:

Sowing Confusion | One small ruling for Texas; one giant leap into a cultural abyss. (Oct. 03, 2003)

Being Here | Why we should sink our roots in the places we call home. (July, 28, 2003)

Beyond Condoms | To alleviate AIDS, we must sharpen our moral vision. (June 10, 2003)

Taming Beasts | Raising the moral status of dogs has created a breed of snarling, dangerous humans. (April 3, 2003)

Faith vs. Statistics | Beware of doing ethics by crunching numbers. (Jan. 28, 2003)

Just War in Iraq | Sometimes going to war is the charitable thing to do. (Dec. 10, 2002)

A Clan of One's Own | Hacking through the jungle of identity politics. (Oct. 9, 2002)

Undaunted | Bioethics challenges are huge. But so is God. (July 31, 2002)

The Wages of Secularism | New laws won't prevent another Enron. (June 4, 2002)

More Doctrine, Not Less | We need to proclaim truth to a truth-impaired generation. (April 15, 2001)

Post-Truth Society | The recent trend of lying is no accident. (March 4, 2002)

Drawing the Battle Lines | We need to be informed and discerning about the Islamic worldview. (Jan. 9, 2002)

Wake-up Call | If September 11 was a divine warning, it's God's people who are being warned. (Nov. 5, 2001)

The New Tyranny | Biotechnology threatens to turn humanity into raw material. (Oct. 5, 2001)

Merchants of Cool | We should be angry that the media hawks violence and that parents allow it. (June 6, 2001)

Slouching into Sloth | The XFL is but the latest sign of the coarsening of our culture. (Apr. 17, 2001)

Checks and (out of) Balance | Moral truth is in jeopardy when the courts enter the business of making law. (Feb. 27, 2001)

Pander Politics | Poll-driven elections turn voters into self-seeking consumers.(Jan. 3, 2001)

Neighborhood Outpost | Changing a culture takes more than politics. (Nov.8, 2000)

MAD No More | In this post-Cold War era, it's time to rethink our nation's defensive strategy. (Sept. 27, 2000)