A recent research project directed by David Kinnaman (president of Barna Group) in conjunction with John Burke (author of Mud and the Masterpiece) explored “whether Christians have the actions and attitude of Jesus as they interact with others or if they are more akin to the beliefs and behaviors of Pharisees, the self-righteous sect of religious leaders described in the New Testament.”
The Christian participants responded to 20 statements regarding their actions and attitudes. The results are not flattering:
- 51% are Pharisaical in both attitudes and actions,
- 14% are Christlike in attitudes and actions,
- 21% are Pharisaical in actions, but Christlike in attitudes, and
- 14% are Pharisaical in attitudes but Christlike in actions.
So What?
All who participated in the survey self-identify as Christians yet only 14% are Christlike in both attitudes and actions. In short, by their own remarks most Christians admit their lifestyles are something less than loving.
- How would you rate your congregation’s focus on helping people become more Christlike in both attitudes and actions? The effectiveness of this focus?
- How big of a problem is it for Christian credibility that Americans (especially true among younger generations) see Christians as hypocritical and that this research portrays the hypocritical life of faith as the most common variety? What can be done to overcome this lack of credibility?