September 13, 2011
The ceremonies conducted last weekend on the tenth anniversary of the tragic events
of September 11, 2001 raised important questions for people to ponder: What does
it mean to be an American? What are the duties and obligations of people who call
themselves citizens of the United States?
Perhaps churches and other ministries throughout the nation would benefit from similar
exercises that pose parallel questions for their adherents: What does it mean to
be a follower of Jesus Christ? What are the duties and obligations of someone who
calls himself/herself a Christian or claims to be a citizen of the kingdom of God?
These are pertinent questions to wrestle with in light of some recent research released
in Maximum Faith, a book by researcher George Barna concerning whether or not people’s
lives are transformed by their faith in and relationship with God, and how that transformation
takes place. While everyone is on a lifelong journey the research revealed that a
relatively small proportion of individuals stick with the process long enough to
become the mature Christ-followers and world changers that they are meant to be.
The nationwide studies conducted in relation to the project indicate that there are
several barriers to overcome before many people are likely to persevere and maximize
their connection with God.
Obstacle 1: Commitment
On the one hand, four out of five self-identified Christian adults (81%) say they
have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their
life today. More than three out of four self-identified Christians (78%) strongly
agreed that spirituality is very important to them. Yet, less than one out of every
five self-identified Christians (18%) claims to be totally committed to investing
in their own spiritual development. About the same proportion of self-identified
Christians (22%) claims to be “completely dependent upon God.” Those figures help
explain why a majority of self-identified Christian adults (52%) believe that there
is much more to the Christian life than what they have experienced. Without a full
determination to live like Christ and for Him, the path to complete transformation
is blocked.
Obstacle 2: Repentance
Most of the self-identified Christians in the U.S. (64%) state that they have confessed
their sins to God and asked for His forgiveness. But the evidence is quite clear
that relatively few self-identified Christians are serious about abandoning the lure
of sin and handing total control of their life to God. In fact, the Maximum Faith
research found that only one out of every eight self-identified Christians (12%)
admitted that recognizing and grasping the significance of their sins had been so
personally devastating that it caused them to crash emotionally. In fact, only about
3% of all self-identified Christians in America have come to the final stops on the
transformational journey – the places where they have surrendered control of their
life to God, submitted to His will for their life, and devoted themselves to loving
and serving God and other people.
Obstacle 3: Activity
Mired in a culture that rewards hard work and busyness, it’s not surprising that
tens of millions of self-identified Christians have confused religious activity with
spiritual significance and depth. For instance, four out of ten self-identified Christian
adults (39%) have participated in a combination of three “normal” religious activities
in the past week (i.e., attending church services, praying, reading the Bible). But
far fewer have engaged in another trio of deeper faith expressions: less than one
out of ten have talked about their faith with a non-Christian, fasted for religious
purposes, and had an extended time of spiritual reflection during the past week.
Various spiritual disciplines – including solitude, sacrifice, acts of service, silence,
and scriptural meditation – are also infrequently practiced.
Obstacle 4: Spiritual Community
Most self-identified Christians note that they feel comfortable and connected within
their church. However, various measures show that there is not much vulnerability
and accountability occurring within the context of those faith-based connections.
Many self-identified Christians do not take their faith community seriously, whatever
type it may be, as a place to which they should be open and held to biblical principles.
Only one out of every five self-identified Christians (21%) believes that spiritual
maturity requires a vital connection to a community of faith. Further, only one-third
(35%) claims to have confessed their sins verbally to another believer at some point
during the past quarter.
The Big Picture
According to George Barna, whose six years of research on the transformation process
resulted in the insights described in Maximum Faith, there are several church-wide
concerns that could be addressed toward helping self-identified Christians experience
a more fulfilling and robust relationship with and faith in Christ.
The first challenge has to do with tools and expectations. Barna noted that most
churches encourage people to engage in an increasing amount of religious activity,
asking them to pour themselves into efforts related to the “core six” spiritual dimensions:
worship, evangelism, discipleship, stewardship, service, and community. While growth
in those areas is important, Barna expressed two related concerns. The first was
that people often fail to realize that the end game of spiritual development is godly
character, not worldly accomplishments. God does not need His followers to achieve
things on His behalf in order for them to become more acceptable or valuable to Him.
The research also indicated that sometimes people get so wrapped up in finishing
church programs or producing specific religious results that they lose sight of the
purpose of their faith, which is to have a life-changing relationship with Jesus.
Barna noted that it becomes easy to substitute laudable religious activity for intentional
and simple engagement with God. American Christians, in particular, have become known
for doing good works and religious exercises rather than simply being friends and
imitators of Christ.
A second challenge is to help believers embrace the necessity of sacrifice and suffering
in order to surrender and submit themselves fully to God. Unfortunately, in a society
that disdains purposeful sacrifice and suffering that leads to growth and depth,
brokenness is an unappealing and rare objective. Until such brokenness occurs, though,
people’s transformation is hindered. Rather than viewing those who suffer for their
faith and give God full control of their lives, the Church could raise those people
up as champions, positioning such selflessness as victory rather than loss. If such
individuals are not found in a congregation, then it may be time to rethink the disciple-making
process relied upon in that church. The Maximum Faith research emphasized the pain
endured through personal crises, a prolonged commitment to the formation process,
and increasing involvement with spiritual disciplines are instrumental in producing
broken people.
A third challenge listed by Barna was the importance of perceiving and experiencing
a faith community as a vital support system in the pursuit of a deeper relationship
with God. Past studies have shown that while small groups that meet during the week
for purposes such as Bible study, prayer, and life sharing have become a regular
activity among roughly one-quarter (25%) of self-described Christians, and those
meetings are relied upon by conventional churches as a means of creating community
and a sense of connection to the church, the ultimate product of those groups is
a combination of knowledge and comfort more often than it is commitment and application.
Knowledge is a crucial step in the growth process, but without transparency and accountability
the information rarely gets converted into personal, congregational, or cultural
transformation.
New Metrics
Barna is currently working on helping faith communities re-think how they measure
“success” in their ministries as well as measures individuals can use to estimate
where they stand on the 10-stop transformational journey that emerged from the research.
Common success measures such as church attendance and program completion showed little
correlation with transformational progress. The new metrics being tested relate primarily
to spiritual fruit evidenced through character change, lifestyle shifts, attitudinal
transitions, and spiritual process and commitments.
Maximum Faith includes a description of the 10 stops on the transformational journey,
the types of life outcomes witnessed at each stop of the journey, and insights into
the transformational process itself.
About the Research
This Update is based on research conducted for the Maximum Faith Project, which took
place between 2005 and 2010. The research included a series of national public opinion
surveys conducted by Barna Group, built on findings from two decades of national
studies conducted prior to that time.
The surveys drawn from for the data in this Update were conducted by telephone, with
a special effort made to include people who no longer have a landline in their home
but now rely solely on mobile telephones. Each survey—with one exception—involved
a national random sample of adults (18 or older) selected from across the 48 continental
states. Of the sixteen surveys conducted for this project between January 2007 and
August 2010, the sample sizes ranged from 1,000 to 1,203, except for a single survey
conducted in 2009 among 400 self-described Christian adults. Upon the completion
of each survey, minimal statistical weights were applied to the data to allow the
results to more closely correspond to known national demographic averages for several
variables. In all of the surveys conducted since 2008, the sample universe included
a sub-sample of people drawn from cell-phone households. All studies relied on callbacks
to households not reached after the first attempt. The average length of the surveys
in these studies ranged from fifteen to twenty-two minutes. The maximum sampling
error associated with these surveys ranged from +2.9 to +5.0 percentage points, depending
upon the sample size and the response proportions in question.
About Barna Group
Barna Group (which includes its research division, the Barna Research Group) is a
private, non-partisan, for-profit organization under the umbrella of the Issachar
Companies. It conducts primary research, produces media resources pertaining to spiritual
development, and facilitates the healthy spiritual growth of leaders, children, families
and Christian ministries.
Located in Ventura, California, Barna Group has been conducting and analyzing primary
research to understand cultural trends related to values, beliefs, attitudes and
behaviors since 1984. If you would like to receive free e-mail notification of the
release of each update on the latest research findings from Barna Group, you may
subscribe to this free service at the Barna website (www.barna.org). Additional research-based
resources are also available through this website.
© Barna Group, 2011.
there is not much vulnerability and accountability occurring within the context of
those faith-based connections. Many self-identified Christians do not take their
faith community seriously, whatever type it may be, as a place to which they should
be open and held to biblical principles. Only one out of every five self-identified
Christians (21%) believes that spiritual maturity requires a vital connection to
a community of faith. Further, only one-third (35%) claims to have confessed their
sins verbally to another believer at some point during the past quarter.
The Big Picture
According to George Barna, whose six years of research on the transformation process
resulted in the insights described in Maximum Faith, there are several church-wide
concerns that could be addressed toward helping self-identified Christians experience
a more fulfilling and robust relationship with and faith in Christ.
The first challenge has to do with tools and expectations. Barna noted that most
churches encourage people to engage in an increasing amount of religious activity,
asking them to pour themselves into efforts related to the “core six” spiritual dimensions:
worship, evangelism, discipleship, stewardship, service, and community. While growth
in those areas is important, Barna expressed two related concerns. The first was
that people often fail to realize that the end game of spiritual development is godly
character, not worldly accomplishments. God does not need His followers to achieve
things on His behalf in order for them to become more acceptable or valuable to Him.
The research also indicated that sometimes people get so wrapped up in finishing
church programs or producing specific religious results that they lose sight of the
purpose of their faith, which is to have a life-changing relationship with Jesus.
Barna noted that it becomes easy to substitute laudable religious activity for intentional
and simple engagement with God. American Christians, in particular, have become known
for doing good works and religious exercises rather than simply being friends and
imitators of Christ.
A second challenge is to help believers embrace the necessity of sacrifice and suffering
in order to surrender and submit themselves fully to God. Unfortunately, in a society
that disdains purposeful sacrifice and suffering that leads to growth and depth,
brokenness is an unappealing and rare objective. Until such brokenness occurs, though,
people’s transformation is hindered. Rather than viewing those who suffer for their
faith and give God full control of their lives, the Church could raise those people
up as champions, positioning such selflessness as victory rather than loss. If such
individuals are not found in a congregation, then it may be time to rethink the disciple-making
process relied upon in that church. The Maximum Faith research emphasized the pain
endured through personal crises, a prolonged commitment to the formation process,
and increasing involvement with spiritual disciplines are instrumental in producing
broken people.
A third challenge listed by Barna was the importance of perceiving and experiencing
a faith community as a vital support system in the pursuit of a deeper relationship
with God. Past studies have shown that while small groups that meet during the week
for purposes such as Bible study, prayer, and life sharing have become a regular
activity among roughly one-quarter (25%) of self-described Christians, and those
meetings are relied upon by conventional churches as a means of creating community
and a sense of connection to the church, the ultimate product of those groups is
a combination of knowledge and comfort more often than it is commitment and application.
Knowledge is a crucial step in the growth process, but without transparency and accountability
the information rarely gets converted into personal, congregational, or cultural
transformation.
New Metrics
Barna is currently working on helping faith communities re-think how they measure
“success” in their ministries as well as measures individuals can use to estimate
where they stand on the 10-stop transformational journey that emerged from the research.
Common success measures such as church attendance and program completion showed little
correlation with transformational progress. The new metrics being tested relate primarily
to spiritual fruit evidenced through character change, lifestyle shifts, attitudinal
transitions, and spiritual process and commitments.
Maximum Faith includes a description of the 10 stops on the transformational journey,
the types of life outcomes witnessed at each stop of the journey, and insights into
the transformational process itself.
LINK TO ARTICLE SOURCE
About the Research
This Update is based on research conducted for the Maximum Faith Project, which took
place between 2005 and 2010. The research included a series of national public opinion
surveys conducted by Barna Group, built on findings from two decades of national
studies conducted prior to that time.
The surveys drawn from for the data in this Update were conducted by telephone, with
a special effort made to include people who no longer have a landline in their home
but now rely solely on mobile telephones. Each survey—with one exception—involved
a national random sample of adults (18 or older) selected from across the 48 continental
states. Of the sixteen surveys conducted for this project between January 2007 and
August 2010, the sample sizes ranged from 1,000 to 1,203, except for a single survey
conducted in 2009 among 400 self-described Christian adults. Upon the completion
of each survey, minimal statistical weights were applied to the data to allow the
results to more closely correspond to known national demographic averages for several
variables. In all of the surveys conducted since 2008, the sample universe included
a sub-sample of people drawn from cell-phone households. All studies relied on callbacks
to households not reached after the first attempt. The average length of the surveys
in these studies ranged from fifteen to twenty-two minutes. The maximum sampling
error associated with these surveys ranged from +2.9 to +5.0 percentage points, depending
upon the sample size and the response proportions in question.
About Barna Group
Barna Group (which includes its research division, the Barna Research Group) is a
private, non-partisan, for-profit organization under the umbrella of the Issachar
Companies. It conducts primary research, produces media resources pertaining to spiritual
development, and facilitates the healthy spiritual growth of leaders, children, families
and Christian ministries.
Located in Ventura, California, Barna Group has been conducting and analyzing primary
research to understand cultural trends related to values, beliefs, attitudes and
behaviors since 1984. If you would like to receive free e-mail notification of the
release of each update on the latest research findings from Barna Group, you may
subscribe to this free service at the Barna website (www.barna.org). Additional research-based
resources are also available through this website.
© Barna Group, 2011.
