Barna Research Group: Just 20% of U.S. Christians Are Resilient Disciples.

Описание: Barna Group: Only 20 percent of U.S. Christians meet Barna’s definition of a “resilient disciple,” meaning they are: Christians who (1) attend church at least monthly and engage with their church more than just attending worship services; (2) trust firmly in the authority of the Bible; (3) are committed to Jesus personally and affirm he was crucified and raised from the dead to conquer sin and death; and (4) express desire to transform the broader society as an outcome of their faith.

Let’s look at how today’s Christians—including resilient disciples—are experiencing and representing Jesus. To do this, we’ve separated the Christians who are resilient disciples from two other groups of respondents: 1) Habitual churchgoers (who make up 17 percent of today’s Christians) describe themselves as Christian and have attended church at least once in the past month, yet do not have foundational core beliefs or behaviors associated with being a resilient disciple. 2) Nomads, or lapsed Christians, identify as Christian but have not attended church during the past month. Most nomads—who, overall, make up nearly two-thirds of today’s Christians (63%)—haven’t been involved with a faith community for six months or more.

Resilient disciples are highly motivated to find a way to follow Jesus that connects to their modern world, 57 percent say this is “completely true” of them. In contrast, less than one-third of habitual churchgoers (30%) and nomads (31%) answer the same way.