Does Christ Really Make a Difference to Christians?

by   T. C. Pinckney                                                                                                                                                                     Vol. X, No. 1, January 1997

           Recently The Washington Times ran a brief article and chart reporting results from polls on religion in America by George Barna. Some of his findings are alarming. Consider the following.

-- Barna’s study of more than 3,000 randomly selected adults found that 27% of born-again Christians had been divorced, compared with 23% of others.

-- Nearly three out of four Americans believe there is no such thing as absolute truth.

-- A majority of people who make decisions to become Christians have dropped out of church participation within six to eight weeks!

           On the positive side: 95% of Americans believe in a God, “higher power,” or “universal spirit.” 45% of adults believe they have a responsibility to describe their religious beliefs to those with a different set of beliefs. About three in ten have actually done so in the past year. 42% of adults attend church in a given week.

           An interesting follow-up to the divorce statistic would be a survey asking whether the fact of their divorce had a bearing upon their conversion to Christ. It is a not-unusual occurrence for times of stress to make us aware of spiritual need. Barna might ask whether the divorce came before or after the person’s profession of faith.

           The high and rapid drop out rate of those who make decisions presumably represent the seed that fell on the shallow soil in the parable of the sower. Apparently those folks greeted the gospel with a warm emotional response but without putting down deep roots; they were unwilling to really make changes in their lives. The lesson for committed Christians may be to be sure we bring new Christians into warm, loving church relationships immediately. Don’t pressure them, but be certain they know they are warmly welcome.

           The lack of understanding that God’s Word is absolute truth suggests that pastors and Sunday School & home group teachers need to explain that clearly and often. Every day our members are bombarded with materialistic propaganda from the educational establishment, television, magazines, newspapers, radio, and those we meet and work with. The church must consciously counter this anti-God barrage.

[Note: Thanks to Boyd & Katherine Camp of Woodbridge for sending me a copy of the Barna article. If you run across something you think would be of interest to readers of the Banner, please send me a copy with full bibliographic information so that I can give proper credit. TCP]