STATE OF THE U.S. CHURCH
by Glen on 2001-09-16 00:28:56
BARNA’S REPORT ON THE STATE OF THE CHURCH IN U.S. based on International
Census Data, Barna Research, and other research data:
Born again Christians – defined in the surveys as people who say they have
made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ and that He is still important in
their life today and who also say they know they will go to Heaven after
they die because they have confessed their sins and accepted Jesus Christ as
their Savior.
- Nearly half of born again Christians (47%) agree that Satan is “not a
living being but is a symbol of evil.” - 31% of born agains also believe that if a person is good enough they can
earn a place in Heaven. - 24% of born agains agree that “while he lived on earth, Jesus committed
sins, like other people.” - 15% of born again Christians claim that “after He was crucified and died,
Jesus Christ did not return to life physically.” - About one out of four (26%) born again Christians believe that it doesn’t
matter what faith you follow because they all teach the same lessons. (e.g.
Hindu, Buddhism, Islam, etc.) - Roughly 95% of all Christians never lead ONE person to Christ.
- Although most believers say that serving the needy is important, just 34%
gave any time and/or money to serve the poor in the last year. - Born agains are more likely than are non-Christians to have experienced
divorce (27% versus 24%). - One out of every six born again Christians (16%) gave no money to his/her
church during 1999. The proportion who tithed to their church was just 8%. - Christians spend 7 times as much time on entertainment as they do on
spiritual activities. - In a nationwide survey among born-again adults, none of the individuals
interviewed said that the single, most important goal in their life was to
be a committed follower of Jesus Christ. - 30% of born agains have watched a “R” rated movie in the last 7 days
compared to 40% of non born again people.Source: Barna Research Group and others