Survey: Most Christians Don't See Value in Communal Faith
Spiritual activities are on the rise and a majority of Americans claim a personal commitment to the Christian faith, but Christians have lowered the bar on church commitment.
Spiritual activities are on the rise and a majority of Americans claim a personal commitment to the Christian faith, but Christians have lowered the bar on church commitment, according to a new Barna survey.
In a study released Tuesday, the Barna Group reported that fewer than one out of every five adults firmly believes that a congregational church is a critical element in their spiritual growth. Despite a gradual increase in church attendance during the past decade, only 17 percent of adults said that "a person's faith is meant to be developed mainly by involvement in a local church."
Even evangelicals, among the most devoted and highest in church attendance, did not largely agree with faith paralleling with the local church. Only one third of all evangelicals and one out of five non-evangelical born again adults agreed. And one out of every four adults who possess a biblical worldview said the local church is central to a person's faith.
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Similarly, 18 percent embraced the idea that spiritual maturity requires involvement in a community of faith.
"These figures emphasize how soft people's commitment to God is," said George Barna, founder of the research institute. "Americans are willing to expend some energy in religious activities such as attending church and reading the Bible, and they are willing to throw some money in the offering basket. Because of such activities, they convince themselves they are people of genuine faith. But when it comes time to truly establishing their priorities and making a tangible commitment to knowing and loving God, and to allowing Him to change their character and lifestyle, most people stop short.
"We want to be 'spiritual' and we want to have God's favor, but we're not sure we want Him taking control of our lives and messing with the image and outcomes we've worked so hard to produce."
The study follows earlier research that recently found a large percentage of adults who claim the Christian faith have not attended any type of church service or activity. Among the 77 percent of the adult population that say they are committed to their faith, 34 percent were found to be unchurched.
Revolutionaries, the group often accused of seeking to grow independent of community ties, were ironically found to be the subgroup most devoted to spiritual growth through belonging to a faith community.
While most Americans are personally committed to the Christian faith, only 44 percent strongly affirms their commitment to "personally make the world and other people's lives better." Younger adults aged 40 and younger were the least devoted to their commitment.
Among Christian groups, Protestants were more likely than Catholics to strongly affirm to have a deeper connection with God and do whatever it takes to get and maintain that deeper relationship. And within the Protestant sector, 49 percent of adults in mainline churches affirmed such a commitment while 76 percent of those who attended non-mainline Protestant churches were committed.
African Americans showed the largest commitment among people groups with eight out of ten black adults. Survey results revealed 58 percent of Hispanics, 50 percent of whites, and 20 percent of Asians in agreement.
"It is obvious that most Christians in the U.S. do not see much value in a communal faith experiences," said Barna, whose study challenges churches to create a more positive community experience.
"Even though the Bible is unambiguous about the importance of experiencing God through a shared faith journey, and Jesus’ example leaves no room for doubt about the significance of involvement in a faith community, Americans remain unconvinced of the necessity of the collective faith experience. This is partially because the typical church model esteems attendance rather than interaction and immersion, partially due to the superficial experiences most believers have had in cell groups or Christian education classes, and partially attributable to our cultural bias toward independence and fluid relationships.
"Developing a biblical understanding of the preeminence of community life will take intentional leadership, strategic action and time."
