Write About Now

Glen Elliott, Lead Pastor of Pantano Christian Church, recently shared the following statistics with his church. (The stats come from a recent LifeWay Research Study.)

• America’s unchurched are willing to hear what people have to say about Christianity. But 72% of those interviewed think the church “is full of hypocrites.”
• Yet 71% said they believe Jesus “makes a positive difference in a person’s life” and 78% would “be willing to listen” to someone who wanted to share what they believed about Christianity.
• 64% think “the Christian religion is relevant and viable for today.”
• 72% of unchurched adults believe God, a higher or supreme being actually exists.
• 22% of Americans say they never go to church (This is up from 17% in ‘04 and the highest ever recorded by the General Social Survey.)
• 79% of unchurched Americans think Christianity today is more about organized religion than about loving God and loving people.
• 86% believe they can have a good relationship with God without being involved in church.
• Yet, 89% of the unchurched have at least 1 close Christian friend. And while turned off by church, 78% are willing to listen to someone who wants to talk about their Christian beliefs. The number rose to 89% among adults ages 18-29.
• Additionally, 78% said they would enjoy an honest conversation with a friend about religious and spiritual beliefs, even if they disagreed.
• Only 28% think Christians they know talk to them too much about their beliefs.
• But 44% said Christians “get on my nerves.”

It’s encouraging to know we still have potential influence as individual Christians, but we have obviously failed to communicate the theology of church. If the vast majority think the church = “organized religion” and believe they can connect to God without it, they’re missing the true understanding of God’s plan to love and save the world—and we’ve missed opportunities to show them a community of broken but loving people who make a difference.

Arron also recently wrote about this disconnect. (“We can’t like Jesus and hate the church. It’s a false dichotomy….That’s like saying, ‘I like Arron, but hate Rhonda (my wife).’ Here’s a little advice: Don’t say that within swinging distance of my right arm.”)

So, interesting news to consider as we begin another weekend in which a record number of people won’t go to church. Although it made me smile to read that 44% of the people polled find Christians annoying. Heck, 44% of the Christians I know get on my nerves.