The following report is Copyright (c) 2011. Changing the Face of Christianity, Inc. All rights reserved. This report may not be re-published without permission from CFC Inc. Elements of this report may be used with our permission with full attribution and link back to this page.
Christianity Quiz-Full Report as of August 1, 2011
R. Brad White, founder and president of Changing The Face Of Christianity, Inc.
Copyright (c) 2011. Changing The Face Of Christianity, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Abstract/Summary
Changing The Face Of Christianity conducted a research study to assess the spiritual maturity of Christians.
There were several purposes to conducting the study:
- To establish a reasonably reliable measure of how spiritually mature Christians are, when comparing their thoughts and actions to the teachings of Jesus Christ, applied to our present culture.
- To establish a baseline metric upon which to measure the long term progress and success of the Changing The Face Of Christianity Inc ministry.
- To identify and gauge the significance of primary target groups (where Christians fall across a range of possible scores), to learn where ministry efforts could most fruitfully be focused to effect the most significant contribution to spiritual maturity and transformation within the Christian faith.
The results indicate that while many Christians are spiritually mature, the majority of Christians consider themselves “good” (not quite mature, but making good progress toward spiritual maturity), while a quarter of Christians are “worldly” (e.g. generally behaving, speaking, and thinking no differently than the rest of the world). The report concludes that intentional and zealous efforts need to be made to help Christians become spiritually mature, otherwise negative Christian stereotypes will continue to plague the Christian faith, bringing dishonor to God and tarnishing the image of Jesus Christ. It is recommended that individual Christians seek spiritual growth through the power of the Holy Spirit, as well as join with Christian communities and small groups to study and put their faith into practice, as well as to embrace the accountability that a Christian community and small group can provide. Changing the Face of Christianity Inc. seeks to partner with local church communities and small groups, to educate and provide tools and resources to help Christians become more like Jesus Christ.
Methods
Changing the Face of Christianity Inc created a self-assessment “Christianity Quiz” that was published on it’s website at http://www.changingthefaceofchristianity.com/christianity-quiz, as well as vanity url http://www.ChristianityQuiz.com.
The quiz contained 10 multiple-choice questions, as well as some demographic data such as the participants age and number of years as a Christian. Each question had four possible answers, and each answer was given a weight from 1 to 4 points. For example, one area of Christian spiritual maturity is the practice or discipline of reading the Bible. A spiritually mature Christian would be more likely to read their Bible at least daily or even throughout the day. Whereas self-proclaimed Christians who are far from Christ would read the Bible rarely or no more than once a month. Each answer set contained a range of answers along a maturity scale so that the participant was awarded either 1, 2, 3, or 4 points per question; the more points, the more spiritually mature, and the less points, the less spiritually mature.
The questions presented did not assess academic or theological understanding, but practical application of Christian principles expressed in attitudes and daily behaviors. The results indicate if you are “Far from Christ”, a “Worldly Christian”, a “Good Christian”, or a “Spiritually Mature Christian”.
Results
Over a 7 month period, from January 2011 through July 2011, Changing the Face of Christianity collected over 2,000 responses to their Christianity Quiz.
Here is a summary of the results:
- Far from Christ: 4.6%
- Worldly Christian: 23.7%
- Good Christian: 39.0%
- Spiritually Mature Christian: 32.7%
Additional data was collected on the age of the participant as well as how many years they have been a Christian. This data is still being analyzed before comparisons and conclusions can be made. However a presentation of that analysis will be forthcoming.
One interesting tidbit is that a descent number of christians responded that (when comparing their age to # years christian) they have been a christian their whole life, presumably since birth. For example, one would say they are 32 years old and they’ve been christian for 32 years. This could simply be a realization that they were born into the faith and can’t recall a specific age of acceptance of the faith. However it is disturbing that (although they MAY have made a true concious choice later in life) for many of these christians it may have never in fact been a concious choice which defies our understanding and beliefs about the necessarily deliberate process or choice of “accepting jesus christ” as one’s savior and Lord. Again, more analysis is being prepared to better understand how the scores of such participants compare to the overall pool. Stay tuned.
Discussion/Interpretation of the Results
R. Brad White, the founder of Changing the Face of Christianity Inc, a 501(c)3 non-profit, says “The results are both hopeful and disturbing, as 1 in 4 self-proclaimed Christians admit they rarely live the teachings of Jesus Christ. Our mission is to reverse negative Christian stereotypes by helping Christians become more like Jesus Christ. And so, our goal is to help transform these unChristians into spiritually mature Christians who walk the walk, and better represent our faith to the world.”
The quiz results show 32.7% of Christians are spiritually mature. R. Brad White says, “Our hope was increased and we were excited to see that almost 1/3rd of Christians are consistently living their faith. These are spiritually mature Christians that represent Jesus Christ well through their words and actions. These Christians engage with the world in a positive and loving way and truly bring Glory to God.”
The quiz results show 39.0% of Christians are “Good” Christians. R. Brad White says, “A significant majority of Christians consistently live their faith. In addition to the 32.7% of spiritually mature Christians out there, 39% of Christians take their faith seriously and are striving daily to live as good Christians. Yes, we are still human. We stumble. We fail. We make mistakes. We screw up. These Christians aren’t perfect, but are striving to consistently practice their faith. These Christians are at the tipping point and very close to becoming spiritually mature. This is incredibly promising to us. But there is also a risk that many of them will go the other way. Our organization seeks to help move these folks into spiritual maturity.
The quiz results show 23.7% of Christians are worldly. R. Brad White says, “This means they are mostly Christian in name only. When posed with a real world situation which tests their faith, they tend to do what the rest of the world does, instead of living as Jesus instructs. To be clear, these aren’t “bad” people. However, they don’t tend to read their Bible or pray very often. The score results suggest they think much more about themselves, than they think about God and other people. These are people that you would probably be surprised to find are Christian, if it weren’t for the cross around their neck. These people are in the sweet spot of where we need to do our work. We are here to walk along side them, love them, educate them, mentor them, and guide them into living their faith through their words and actions.”
The quiz results show 4.6% of Christians are far from Christ. R. Brad White says, “Almost 5% of self-proclaimed Christians aren’t even trying to live as Christians. And these aren’t just brand new Christians who don’t know better. These are people who are often born into the faith who have never made a conscious, personal decision to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. They may call themselves Christian, but they are far from it. They likely aren’t part of a Christian community and don’t seek the accountability and growth that a Christian community offers. Or, they are just going through the motions. In their hearts , they are not in a relationship with God; the creator of the universe; Jesus Christ. Our challenge is finding these folks, connecting with them, and helping them get into the game.”
The Christianity Quiz is available at http://www.ChristianityQuiz.com
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Copyright (c) 2011. Changing the Face of Christianity, Inc. All rights reserved. This report may not be re-published without permission from CFC Inc. Elements of this report may be used with our permission with full attribution and link back to this page.
I think that this is a great websites and it can show like if you are far from GOD or a Worldly Christian or a Good Christian or a Spiritually Mature Christian and I Praise the Lord GOD for all that he does and GOD is a Awesome GOD. Thank you Jehovah Jireh!
Very interesting quiz and eye-opening.
I am actually putting the final touches on a book that I have been writing that looks at aspects of this, as well. My book, entitled “The Four Pillars of the Kingdom,” is set to be released soon. It is, not only a response to some of the metaphysical arguments of the so-called New Atheists, but also a call to believers to take their faith serious in a very real way. You can find a few excerpts from the work at my website, here:
http://bit.ly/TheFourPillars
This current research is fairly complementary to mine – although it shows more spiritually mature Christians than I think that there really is – a self polling bias maybe?
Based on my research and the World Christian Encyclopedia the Christian world is divided by 3s (too neat you say? – keep reading for the proof). At 2010 about 6.9 billion people lived on earth. Of those 2.3 billion confessed to be Christians (there is our first 33%).
Of those professing Christians only 1.5 billion attended church – so 785 million fall by the wayside (34% is that non attending number).
Of Church attenders about 707 million are Great Commission Christians – lives changes and seek to bring about the kingdom of Christ (this is about 31% of all Christians). This means there are about 801 million “church goers” who don’t live life differently (about 35% of all Christians).
See the thirds yet? To recap only 1/3 of earth calls itself Christian. Of Christians 1/3 (34%) don’t even attend church; 1/3 attend church (35%) but it makes no difference in the rest of their lives and 1/3 (31%) live changed lives for Christ.
And a final note on the thirds… Of the 31% who live changes lives as Christians – 1/3 of them (11% of all Christians) live evangelical lives. Lives set apart for service to God – remember the tithe that belongs to God in the OT – 10% then versus 11% now. My research shows that this 11% number has never been higher in history. A coincidence or not?
I have conducted my research because I am writing a book interpreting the Book of Revelation and I want to illustrate how many people will be “snatched up” in the rapture that seems to be rapidly approaching. Thanks for your good work in this field – the more lives we can help save forever – the better!