DEVELOPING A BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW

Group Questions1. What are the dangers/benefits to measuring a

pastor, his ministry, or a church based on “results”? What kinds of “results” are typical measuring sticks in our culture? What kinds of “results” should we be looking for? Is it easy to quantify true, biblical results?

2. What are the dangers/benefits of the shift from “the pastor as a teacher/theologian in a local church” to “the pastor as a celebrity”?

3. Do you think genuine revival can be generated by employing particular techniques? Why/why not?

Charles Malik

The greatest danger besetting American Evangelical Christianity is the danger of anti-

intellectualism.

Dwight L. Moody

It makes no difference how you get a man to God, provided you get

him there.

Pearcy

The local rootedness of the traditional clergy had provided at least some measure of genuine

accountability: Their character was known and tested in ongoing, long-term contact with a regular congregation. By contrast, the evangelist addressed

mass audiences made up of strangers, who could not possibly judge his character by personal

knowledge. He could dazzle them with sheer image-making and marketing hype.

Charles Finney

One critic…

They measure the progress of religion by the numbers who flock to their standard; not by

prevalence of faith, and piety, justice and charity

Pearcy

The more Christians sought to prop up their faith with mere emotional intensity, the more

it appeared to be an irrational belief that belonged in the upper story of private

experience.

Basic Patterns Still Influencing Evangelicalism

1.Tendency to define religion in emotional terms2.Anti-credal, anti-historical attitude3.Individual choice as the final determinate of belief4.View of the church as merely a collection of

individuals who happen to believe the same thing.5.Preference for social activism over intellectual

reflection6.Celebrity model of leadership