In my entry entitled "Revolution, Part 2", I stated that George Barna had shared some statistics that supported his point that there is a "disconnection between what our research consistently shows about churched Christians and what the Bible calls us to be." I thought you might like to see some of what he shared.(These are taken from George Barna's book entitled "Revolution". Copyright 2005 Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, IL. p. 33-35.)
- Eight out of ten believers do not feel they have entered into the presence of God, or experienced a connection with Him, during the worship service.
- Half of all believers say they do not feel they have entered into the presence of God or experienced a genuine connection with Him during the past year.
- Only one out of every four churched believers says that when they worship God, they expect Him to be the primary beneficiary of their worship. (Most people say they expect to get the most from the experience.)
- The typical churched believer will die without leading a single person to a lifesaving knowledge of and relationship with Jesus Christ.
- Only 9 percent of all born-again adults have a biblical worldview--meaning that less than one out of every ten Christians age eighteen or older believes that absolute moral truth exists, believes that such truth is contained in the Bible, and possesses a handful of core beliefs that reflect such truth. Those beliefs include a certainty that the Bible is accurate in its teachings; Jesus lived a sinless life on earth; Satan is real, not symbolic; all believers are responsible for sharing their faith in Christ with others; the only means to salvation is through God's grace; and God is the all-knowing and all-powerful creator of the universe who still rules it today. The other 91 percent of born-again adults possess a patchwork of theological views and rarely rely upon those perspectives to inform their daily decisions.
- When given the opportunity to state how they want to be known by others, fewer than one out of ten believers mentioned descriptions that reflect their relationship with God.
- Fewer than one out of ten churched Christians donates at least 10 percent of their income to churches and other nonprofit organizations. (More than one-third claim to do so.)
- In a typical week, only one out of every four believers will allocate some time to serving other people. Most of that time is dedicated to volunteering in church programs that serve congregants; little effort is invested in serving needy people outside the congregation.
- Fewer than one out of every six churched believers has a relationship with another believer through which spiritual accountability is provided.
- A large majority of churched believers rely upon their church, rather than their family, to train their children to become spiritually mature.
- Apart from church-based programs, the typical Christian family spends less than three hours per month in endeavors designed to jointly develop or apply their faith.
- Most Christian parents do not believe they are doing a good job at facilitating the spiritual development of their children.
I hope this information grabs your attention, but I also hope is doesn't defeat you. We can never forget the impact of a single life that chooses to truly live for Christ- it can't be calculated. That is where I hope we will leave our investment.
In Him We Live,
Jeff
No comments:
Post a Comment