The Barna Group has completed some research that will may blow your mind, but it doesn't come as a complete surprise either. While some will debate that America was once a "Christian nation," it is becoming increasingly clear; most Americans today see the Christian faith as one of many spiritual options.
The Barna Group research says: "The study discovered that half of all adults now contend that Christianity is just one of many options that Americans choose from and that a huge majority of adults pick and choose what they believe rather than adopt a church or denomination's slate of beliefs. Still, most people say their faith is becoming increasingly important as a source of personal moral guidance."
"Overall, 50% of the adults interviewed agreed that Christianity is no longer the faith that Americans automatically accept as their personal faith, while just 44% disagreed and 6% were not sure."
"By a three to one margin (71% to 26%) adults noted that they are personally more likely to develop their own set of religious beliefs than to accept a comprehensive set of beliefs taught by a particular church."
The article concludes with some insights from Barna's founder, George Barna. He says: "Faith, of whatever variety, is increasingly viral rather than pedagogical. With people spending less time reading the Bible, and becoming less engaged in activities that deepen their biblical literacy, faith views are more often adopted on the basis of dialogue, self-reflection, and observation than teaching. Feelings and emotions now play a significant role in the development of people's faith views - in many cases, much more significant than information - based exercises such as listening to preaching and participating in Bible study."
What does this mean for the church today? How should the church respond?
Do you agree with the findings? What are your thoughts?
1 comment:
i agree with barna. even though i dont understand many of his wordage.
i think emotions come into play so much, that basically from the time people pull into the parking lot, you have to 'get them in the mood' and 'keep them in the mood.' if they aren't 'feeling it,' boredom sets in.
i would say being the technology generation has something to do with the attention spans as well.
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