Pastors speak about the unborn? It depends
Don’t miss reading through new statistical data from Ed Stetzer’s team over at LifeWay Research.
Always helpful, their current information reveals that when it comes to speaking on social and moral issues, core theological convictions really do shape a pastor’s actions in the pulpit - one way or the other.
In a telephone survey of 1,002 senior church leaders conducted in October 2008, Protestant pastors who identified themselves as politically conservative or very conservative are more likely to speak to their churches on homosexuality and the unborn than their liberal counterparts, according to Ed Stetzer, director of LifeWay Research.
Eighty-nine percent of very conservative Protestant pastors said they speak to their churches at least once a year on the unborn, and 79 percent indicated they address the topic of homosexuality about once a year or more often. This compares with 25 percent of liberal or very liberal pastors who address the issue of the unborn at least annually, and 53 percent who speak on the topic of homosexuality.
Scott Lamb pastored Providence Baptist Church in St. Louis for seven years, and now serves as Director of Research for the President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. 
If number of occurences is the scale, adultery (sex between any two people not married to each other) would seem to be by far the biggest moral lapse in our society. Perhaps it is also covered but judging from lack of public action to oppose it the question is are we more concerned with moral lapses of others rather than our own.
I didn’t look at the link, but what percent of liberal pastors speak to their churches about service to the poor?
Please remember that you can have a ’survey’ reflect anything you wish it to reflect.
Consider: * Who is conducting the survey, * What are the questions and how are they asked (slanted), *How are the percentages arrived at, and * How were the participants chosen.
In other words - the variables are endless, but the ‘Conclusions’ can be established, well Before the survey is done.
I put very little faith in surveys, as Public Opinion, is problematic, at best.
Church members who are truly convicted are not living in sin, PERIOD! They are not having sex outside wedlock, they are not having abortions, they are not having affairs on their husbands/wives, and they are not molesting the boys or girls inside or outside the church. They are not practicing homosexuality. They may be struggling with a number of these things but they have been convicted in their hearts that sin leads to death. Genuine Christians are not liars, nor do they sow iniquity. The churches need to clean up its own houses because most of them are full of all these sins that are birthed from the ego. The churches are full of people and people who don’t get it and should concentrate on mentoring those in the church to become clean and holy. It is very hard if not next to impossible to get the world to buy what you are selling when they see that you your self have not bought it. The question should be, how many times a year are pastors preaching that their members must become holy free of sin?
Pastors, church leaders and church members must stop ministering and trying to sell a bill of goods that they themselves have not bought or overcome. What causes a pastor, minister or church leader or other members in the church to preach and pretend that they have overcome when they know that they have not overcome sin themselves? The answer is the biggest sin of all EGO. This world have a much bigger problem here than homosexuality and abortions.
D. Walker - So glad you could define for us exactly what a “Genuine Christian” is. Perhaps for your next feat you will define a True Scotsman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman).
Jim H,
Actually, I get it from scripture not myself but have finally got it in my heart and not just my head now.
Jim H,
As your True Scotsman reference explains, “in situations where the subject’s status is previously determined by specific behaviors, the fallacy does not apply. For example, it is perfectly justified to say, “No true vegetarian eats meat,” because not eating meat is the single thing that precisely defines a person as a vegetarian.”
A Christian as explained to us in scripture is determined by faith in Christ and His teachings, they can’t be separated, you can’t have one without the other. His teachings are manifested within our hearts and our faith in Him is expressed in specific behaviors. Just as no true vegetarian eat meat because not eating meat is the single thing that precisely defines one as a vegetarian, obeying ALL the teachings of Christ defines us as belonging to Him.