5: Doing Faith
DOING FAITH
The Religious Behaviors of Churchless People
By definition, the unchurched do not attend church services —but that does not mean they have abandoned all faith activities. Much of their religious activity is privately undertaken, or pursued within their family or circle of friends.
The Bible
Although many churchless people have little faith in the Bible, as we will see in the next chapter, one of the most common faith-related activities they engage in is reading God’s Word. Most unchurched adults own a Bible, and millions of them read it regularly. They may not defend the inerrancy of the Scriptures, but nearly half of them believe that at least some portion of the Bible’s content is defensible and valuable.
But owning a book, occasionally reading it, and grasping the content are all different matters. We have two clues that the unchurched are not well educated in biblical content. The first is the many unbiblical beliefs they harbor, which we will look at in more detail in chapter 6. For instance, large numbers of them believe Jesus was a sinner. Most do not believe Satan exists or that an evil spirit influences people’s lives. Most are skeptical about the nature of God and do not buy the notion that he is a supernatural, perfect, and dominant being. They have read the stories and know much of the content, but many do not embrace those teachings as fact.
The second clue, revealed by data Barna Group has tracked since 2011, in partnership with the American Bible Society, is that only one out of ten claims to have read the entire Bible. While that is not unusual —most churched people have yet to do so, as well —the unchurched are one-third as likely as the churched to have read all sixty-six books of the Scriptures. It is likely this contributes to some of their theological confusion.
When we asked people to identify the source of information that is most helpful when they are striving to respond to challenging questions about matters of faith, only one-quarter of the churchless mentioned the Bible as their best source. That is half as often as the Bible was mentioned by churched adults.
We might conclude that, while unchurched Americans are likely to own a Bible and to have spent some time reading it, they are generally not attracted to or compelled by what they have been exposed to in God’s Word. For some this is due to a lack of tools for interpreting the content. Maybe they are confused about different interpretations they have heard in various churches. Perhaps they own a translation that is hard to understand. Some of them simply ignore the Bible because they have not been exposed to practical applications. There are many reasons churchless people do not appreciate the Bible. The bottom line is, the Bible is generally accepted as legitimate religious literature but not as a useful life resource.
Relating to God
A majority of unchurched adults (58 percent) pray to God during a typical week. For most of them it is a one-way conversation: six out of ten say they do not believe God speaks to them. About one-sixth are certain God speaks to them, with the remaining one-quarter not sure but open to the possibility.
Those who believe God speaks directly to them ascribe various methods of communication to him. Most common are the beliefs that he influences their mind or emotions (35 percent) and that he provides signs (30 percent). Somewhat less common are miraculous or inexplicable circumstances (25 percent); specific guidance given to them by other people, as conduits of God’s direction (25 percent); a pointed and personally meaningful Bible passage (24 percent); and personally relevant teaching or preaching (20 percent). Less frequent are personally significant passages read from a book other than the Bible (17 percent) and audible voices or whispers (16 percent).
The perceived silence of God may be related to the fact that only one-third of the churchless have what they consider to be an active relationship with God that influences their life today. The words they use to describe that relationship, though, are telling:
One has to wonder why, if their relationships with God are already so fulfilling, this subset of the unchurched would consider participating in a local church —unless a community of faith could show how church engagement can increase the intimacy, constancy, and depth of a relationship with God. (By the way, the biggest difference between the descriptions offered by churched and unchurched people of their connection to God is that church regulars are seventeen percentage points more likely to claim intimacy with God.)
Unchurched adults tend not to invest much energy in deepening their relationship with God. By far the most common effort is to have a time of extended quietness and solitude with God, something that one-third of the churchless say they do. One out of every four says he or she engages in daily worship. One out of five has planned a period of focused, prolonged spiritual reflection. One out of six has undertaken planned times of focused, prolonged prayer. One out of eight occasionally confesses sins, verbally, to another person. Less than one in ten engages in intense Bible study or a significant food fast.
Religious Expression
Private prayer and worship are not the only ways unchurched adults express themselves spiritually. Two-thirds of the churchless admit that during the past month they have tried a variety of things to expand their faith understanding and maturity. Some of those efforts are comparatively common; beyond praying and reading the Bible, discussing faith matters with family and friends and watching religious TV programs led the list. Less common attempts to grow spiritually were listening to Christian music, meditating, seeking counseling, reading spiritual books, and spending time appreciating nature. One-third of the unchurched did nothing to advance their spirituality.
One of the more discouraging survey results is that six out of ten unchurched adults admit the faith they possess today is no different from their spiritual maturity when they were a child. On average, that means they have not grown much, if at all, in more than three decades —a period that may have included years of church involvement.
Reflections on Religious Behaviors
Attending church services is just one of many spiritual endeavors people undertake. To assume that churchless people are irreligious or have no spiritual dynamic is to misunderstand many of them. And this false assumption impacts our potential to connect with the unchurched. Assuming they are spiritually bankrupt will only make us offensive to them.
Another factor to consider is that one-third of all churchless adults are former Catholics who say they will not consider returning to the Catholic church. They retain beliefs in God, Jesus, the Bible, and other elements of Christianity, but are hesitant to shift their allegiance to a Protestant church, which is unfamiliar or even scary to many of them. Walking with these believers into a connection with a local church or a reconnection with a Catholic parish demands sensitivity, trust, patience, and understanding —and the offer of an irresistible reason to pursue that connection.
Certainly another barrier we face is the spiritual lethargy of many unchurched people. They have been absent from the church for years; most have failed to mature. And breaking free from inertia is difficult. They must find a compelling reason to do so, an inspiring vision of what they are missing. Is your faith community casting —and living —such a vision among the unchurched in your neighborhood or city?
• What surprises you most about the many religious behaviors practiced by unchurched people? Why?
• How does your church help people increase the intimacy, constancy, and depth of their relationship with God? How could you communicate these benefits to unchurched people?
• How is your church casting —and living —a vision of Christian community that inspires people to connect? What could you do better?