David Kuo found some intriguing statistics in a study put out by Lifeway research:- 78% of the "unchurched" said they would be interested in hearing more about Christianity from someone.
- When asked whether Christians they knew talked about their faith too much 71% disagreed.
These answers beg the question of whether Christians are talking about their faith enough. I would have guessed the answers to these questions would have been radically different based on both personal experience and conventional wisdom about Christians. The stereotype of evangelicals is that they are walking around ready to smack unsuspecting people left and right with their Bibles; that Christians live only to annoy their neighbors with their incessant evangelism.
All of this begs the question of whether Christians are embarrassed by Jesus.
Yes, I think we are.
1 comment:
I would agree with those facts to an extent, however the cynic in me wonders about a forthcoming evangelism series we might see good ol' big brother marketing in the near future.
On the other hand, the new study from the Barna Group, 'Unchurched', puts forth the following figures, pointing to a general view that maybe we're not so much embarrassed by Jesus, as much as we've missed the boat on living out the gospel authentically:
- Three out of every ten young outsiders said they have undergone negative experiences in churches and with Christians. Such hurtful experiences are part of the stories of nearly one out of every two young people who are atheist, agnostics, or of some other faith. Outsiders who are Mosaics and Busters are two and a half times more likely than older outsiders to say bad experiences
have degraded their picture of Jesus.
- Among nonChristians ages sixteen to twenty-nine—that is, atheists, agnostics, those undecided about their faith, and individuals affiliated with other faiths— more than four out of every five have gone to a Christian church at some time in their life (82 percent). Most of these attended for at least three months. And two-thirds of nonChristians (65 percent) said they have had conversations in the last year with a Christian friend about their faith views. More than half (53 percent) said they have been specifically approached in the past few years about becoming a Christian.
- The majority of outsiders in this country, particularly among young
generations, are actually de-churched individuals.
- Only one out of seven outsiders describes Christianity as something that seems genuine and real. Just one-third believe that Christians show genuine interest in them.
- Even among those who have never made a commitment to Christ, nearly half (45 percent) said they have considered becoming a Christian before, with the other half saying they have never given the notion much thought.
- Most of those who made a decision for Christ were no longer connected to a Christian church within a short period, usually eight to twelve weeks, after their initial decision.
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