What's wrong with the Gospel?

According to George Barna 42% of Americans are "born again" and half of all americans are attending church on a typical Sunday.

Yet the United States has by far the highest prison population in the world as well as the highest rate of incarceration. And the divorce rate (35%) among "born-agains" is the same as among others.

Has the Gospel lost its power to save from sin? Or perhaps we just don't know what it means to be born-again. Barna identifies "born-agains"

...based upon their answers to two questions. The first is "have you ever made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in your life today?" If the respondent says "yes," then they are asked a follow-up question about life after death. One of the seven perspectives a respondent may choose is "when I die, I will go to Heaven because I have confessed my sins and have accepted Jesus Christ as my savior." Individuals who answer "yes" to the first question and select this statement as their belief about their own salvation are then categorized as "born again."

Is any "personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in your life today" the same as the willingness to forsake all as Jesus demands? Is "I have confessed my sins and have accepted Jesus Christ as my savior" the same as being born of the Spirit?

Now let us look at how God describes the New Covenant:

"But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
"And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." (Jeremiah 31:33-34)

"Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within
you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. And you will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God." (Ezekiel 36:25-29)

When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about the need to be born again, born of the Spirit (John chapter 3), this is what He was referring to.

It would appear there is a discrepancy between the definition of Barna and the definition of God Almighty. Now we shouldn't be too hard on Mr. Barna - he's only reflecting the general opinion in the churches of America - but I think we can see here the reason the American churches are spiritually impotent: they aren't preaching the same gospel as Jesus and the Apostles.

The americanized version of the 'gospel' is well suited to building church membership roles and filling the offering plates, but it is utterly unable to deliver from sin and the wrath of God. A walk down the aisle and a 'sinners prayer' is as ineffective at regenerating the human heart as sprinkling water on a newborn. Only an abiding encounter with the living Son of God can transmute the sinner into a saint.

Father, deliver us from preachers and ministers who do not know you. Forgive us who have preached a soft and comfy gospel. Forgive our tickling itching ears. Jesus, we have sinned against you and built our own kingdoms rather than yours. Grant us repentance! Open our eyes to understand the New Covenant. And fill us anew with your Spirit to preach your message, rather than our own message.

Let us preach Jesus Christ, crucified and risen from the dead!