Daniel_Cheung
05-11-2009, 08:26 PM
Many Churchgoers and Faith Leaders Struggle to Define Spiritual Maturity
http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/264-many-churchgoers-and-faith-leaders-struggle-to-define-spiritual-maturity
America may possess the world's largest infrastructure for nurturing human spirituality, complete with hundreds of thousands of houses of worship, thousands of parachurch organizations and schools, and seemingly unlimited products, resources and experts.
Yet, a new study from the Barna Group identifies an underlying reason why there is little progress in helping people develop spiritually: many churchgoers and clergy struggle to articulate a basic understanding of spiritual maturity. People aspire to be spiritually mature, but they do not know what it means. ...
1. Most Christians equate spiritual maturity with following the rules...
2. Most churchgoers are not clear what their church expects in terms of spiritual maturity. ..
3. Most Christians offer one-dimensional views of personal spiritual maturity. ..
4. Most pastors struggle with feeling the relevance as well as articulating a specific set of objectives for spirituality, often favoring activities over attitudes...
5. Pastors are surprisingly vague about the biblical references they use to chart spiritual maturity for people...
http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/264-many-churchgoers-and-faith-leaders-struggle-to-define-spiritual-maturity
America may possess the world's largest infrastructure for nurturing human spirituality, complete with hundreds of thousands of houses of worship, thousands of parachurch organizations and schools, and seemingly unlimited products, resources and experts.
Yet, a new study from the Barna Group identifies an underlying reason why there is little progress in helping people develop spiritually: many churchgoers and clergy struggle to articulate a basic understanding of spiritual maturity. People aspire to be spiritually mature, but they do not know what it means. ...
1. Most Christians equate spiritual maturity with following the rules...
2. Most churchgoers are not clear what their church expects in terms of spiritual maturity. ..
3. Most Christians offer one-dimensional views of personal spiritual maturity. ..
4. Most pastors struggle with feeling the relevance as well as articulating a specific set of objectives for spirituality, often favoring activities over attitudes...
5. Pastors are surprisingly vague about the biblical references they use to chart spiritual maturity for people...