Barna Research has some really interesting statistics about why, within the USA, we seem to be a post-Christian nation. According to Barna, “When we asked Americans whether they have a positive or negative opinion of Jesus, seven in 10 (71%) say they view him positively. Of all U.S. teens and adults, 63 percent say they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today. This is actually most common among Millennials, of whom 70 percent say their commitment to Jesus is still important to them. Overall, the percentage of Americans who agree with this statement has declined fewer than 10 percentage points over the last 20 years (which is less of a decline than what is observed with other Barna faith metrics like church attendance).”
“Beyond Jesus, when it comes to views of other Christian groups or entities, positive opinions wane. People of no faith are neutral or leaning negative—and for celebrity, mega- or famous representatives of the faith, opinions are decidedly negative. Among those of no faith, even Christian individuals are not viewed so favorably. Further, the data below shows why people may be reluctant to hold Christian beliefs, with the top reason today being “hypocrisy of religious people.”
“This isn’t to say that, at a surface level, present-day Christianity doesn’t have a welcome presence in the U.S. It is typically seen as respected, principled, loving, friendly, generous and so on. More telling than these general descriptions, however, are the glaring disparities between how Christians and those of no faith regard Christianity. These gaps represent the hurdles the Church needs to overcome, especially if sharing faith or welcoming people into churches is the goal. Some of the biggest differences appear when it comes to how much less likely people of no faith are to call Christianity a faith they respect (15%), and how much more likely they are than Christians to describe the faith as judgmental (48%) and hypocritical (49%).”
“Our data on the rising spiritual openness in America reveals a tremendous opportunity for faith leaders. The challenge facing the Church is whether they are ready and able to meet the spiritually open—where they are, as they are. ‘The work of Christians is to embody Jesus—full of truth and grace—and reflect his image in all they say and do,’ says David Kinnaman, CEO of Barna Group. ‘The data shows they too often fall short.’ ”
You can read the full article and see the Barna Statistics here: https://www.barna.com/research/openness-to-jesus