just a hobby?

According to David Barrett, author of the World Christian Encyclopedia, every 24 hours 72,900 people become Christians, the largest number in history. Of that population, however, only 7,200 are in Europe and North America, combined. Why this stark contrast between Christianity in the West and in the rest of the world? In South Korea, home to five of the ten largest churches on Earth, massive crowds pray every morning at 4:00 a.m. and all night every Friday. In Cuba over the last decade, a million people have become Christians. In America is the problem that for many people God is just a hobby, not really worthy of our full devotion?

what’s Easter about?

The Barna Group conducted a survey asking people what they thought the meaning of Easter was. Two-thirds of Americans (67%) indicated that they thought Easter was a religious holiday (which means that one-third of Americans think Easter is not a religious holiday.) The survey found that 42% of Americans identify Jesus’ resurrection as a part of Easter (which means a majority of Americans don’t realize Easter is about Christ’s resurrection.) Interesting.

saints or sinners?

In his book “What’s So Amazing about Grace?” Philip Yancey comes to this candid conclusion: “Having spent time around ‘sinners’ and also around purported saints, I have a hunch why Jesus spent so much time with the former group: I think he preferred their company. Because the sinners were honest about themselves and had no pretense, Jesus could deal with them. In contrast, the saints put on airs, judged him, and sought to catch him in a moral trap. In the end it was the saints, not the sinners, who arrested Jesus.”

unChristian, part 4

Young adults outside the church give the following as the primary reasons they’ve never become Christ-followers: they’ve never thought about it, they’re not particularly interested in spirituality, they’re already committed to another faith, they’re repelled by Christians.

unChristian, part 3

85% of young adults outside the Christian faith believe present day Christianity is hypocritical. Almost 50% of young adults who go to church believe present day Christianity is hypocritical. Why? Born-again believers are just as likely as not-yet-believers to gamble, visit a pornographic website, take something that doesn’t belong to them, consult a medium, physically fight or abuse someone, become drunk, use illegal drugs, lie, try and get back at someone, say mean things behind another person’s back. No difference.

unChristian, part 2

Do you know what percentage of young adults outside the Christian faith have a positive view of evangelical Christians? 3 percent, yes, 3 percent (and the vast majority of these outsiders have been to Christian churches and have heard the message of Christ.) Why so negative? Christians have become famous for what we oppose, rather than what we are for. Only a small percentage of outsiders believe that the labels “respect, love, hope, and trust” describe Christianity. Here are the six most common objections outsiders raise about Christians: 1) hypocritical; 2) too focused on getting converts; 3) antihomosexual; 4) sheltered; 5) too political; 6) judgmental.