"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the fullest." - John 10:10
You may have read this before, but as I was reviewing some of my past devotions, I was once again astounded the statistics it contains.
Now, I'm not very good with statistics, but I have a copy of the results of a survey done by LifeWay Research. They polled 1402 "unchurched" adults (defined as people not going to church in the last six months) and found some interesting responses. What conclusions do you draw from these responses?
71% think believing in Jesus makes a positive difference in a person's life.
72% believe that God actually exists.
72% say the church is full of hypocrites.
78% say they would be willing to listen to somebody tell them about Christianity.
79% say Christianity today is more about organized religion than about loving people.
86% say they believe they can have a good relationship with God without belonging to a church.
Arthur Farnsley, administrator of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, interprets it this way, "Is there a workshop for churches in being less annoying, less hypocritical?"
Key thought: If Jesus is so attractive to the majority of the "unchurched," how can the church become more and more like Jesus?
Hint = It begins with you and me.
You may have read this before, but as I was reviewing some of my past devotions, I was once again astounded the statistics it contains.
Now, I'm not very good with statistics, but I have a copy of the results of a survey done by LifeWay Research. They polled 1402 "unchurched" adults (defined as people not going to church in the last six months) and found some interesting responses. What conclusions do you draw from these responses?
71% think believing in Jesus makes a positive difference in a person's life.
72% believe that God actually exists.
72% say the church is full of hypocrites.
78% say they would be willing to listen to somebody tell them about Christianity.
79% say Christianity today is more about organized religion than about loving people.
86% say they believe they can have a good relationship with God without belonging to a church.
Arthur Farnsley, administrator of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, interprets it this way, "Is there a workshop for churches in being less annoying, less hypocritical?"
Key thought: If Jesus is so attractive to the majority of the "unchurched," how can the church become more and more like Jesus?
Hint = It begins with you and me.
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