Faith Has a Limited Effect on Most People’s Behavior

The Barna Research Group, Ltd. (May 24, 2004). “Faith Has a Limited Effect on Most People’s Behavior.” The Barna Group, Ventura California, pp. 3

OVERVIEW

In this research, The Barna Group surveyed adults in the US to gauge whether one’s religious beliefs have an actual effect on the some of the life choices they make. The findings, listed in more detail below, suggest that for many people their personal faith has little effect on what lifestyle choices they make from day to day. Those is the largest two groups, notional Christians and non-evangelical born again Christians, showed very little consistency on what behaviors were engaged in and which were avoided. However, two groups do go against these trends: Christian evangelicals and those without a faith preference. These two categories did emerge as a group of people who’s belief system did affect their choices.

DESIGN

This research was the result of a nationwide telephone survey in May of 2003. About 1,000 adults from throughout the 48 continental states were randomly selected by The Barna Group to be interviewed, and their locations reflect the geographic distribution of the US population. The survey related people’s faith and nineteen lifestyle activities that were defined as ones that may be affected by one’s beliefs.

FINDINGS

They sorted their respondents into five faith categories. The largest (at one third of the adult population) are deemed “notional Christians”, who are adults who say they are Christians but have never made a profession in Jesus Christ. The second largest are called “non-evangelical born again Christians”, those who have accepted Christ as savior but do not necessarily ascribe to the idea of Biblical inerrancy, believe that God as creator and current ruler of the world, share their faith with others, etc. The next group was “atheists/agnostics”, or those without a faith preference. “Evangelical Christians” represented 7% of the population, and they are characterized by a belief in the accuracy of the Bible, a compulsion to share their faith with others, and declare that their faith plays an important role in their faith. The remaining group was the “adherents of non-Christian faiths” such as Islam, Buddhism or Scientology).

The question of whether someone, or a group’s, personal faith made a difference in some typical moral/life choices depended on which group the interviewer tended to fall into. In general, among most groups, one’s personal beliefs made little difference on their engagement in any of the nineteen “lifestyle activities” used by the survey. The survey found that, in particular, being part of the non-evangelical born again Christian group, the notional Christian group, or the adherents of non-Christian faiths predicted very little about how one would answer the 19 questions. In these cases, especially among the notional and non-evangelical born again Christians, one’s faith seemed to have little to do with one’s life.

On the other hand, two groups in particular (evangelicals representing 7% of the population and atheists/agnostics representing 12% of the population) did in fact show a likelihood toward certain activities. These two groups, more than any others, did appear to affect their lifestyles. “There is a strong connections between the faith views and practices of evangelicals and their lifestyles.” (p.1)

Evangelical Christians were the most likely to:

• Attend church, pray, and read the Bible
• Discuss spiritual matters with other people
• Volunteer (church-related or non-profit)
• Discuss political matters with people
• Discuss moral issues and conditions with others
• Stop watching a TV program due to content
• Go out of their way to encourage others

Evangelicals were also much less likely to view pornographic material, read their horoscopes, use tobacco products, or contact their political official.

The other group that stood out was those with no religious faith. Atheists and agnostics were most likely to:

• Recycle
• Visit an adult-only website
• View pornography
• Get drunk
• Have sexual intercourse with someone to whom they are not married

This group was also the least likely to volunteer at a church/non-profit, turn off the television due to values espoused, fast for religious reasons, or do 30 minutes of exercise in the past week.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTIONS AND DISCUSSION

1. In what ways does your belief in God affect the way in which you act every day? Do you make different choices based on your religious beliefs?
2. How would your past week have been different if you made lifestyle choices based on what we are taught in the Bible?
3. Why do you think that the findings show that non-evangelical or born-again Christians are less affected by their beliefs that evangelical Christians?
4. Why do you think there are some “good” behaviors, such as recycling or contacting elected officials, were not practiced often by those evangelicals who they interviewed?
5. How can we encourage those around us to live a life worthy of our beliefs and our callings as children of God?

IMPLICATIONS

1. Our beliefs should have an effect on the way we live our lives day to day, but they do not always do that. We can do great good and great harm to our Christian witness depending on the way we live our lives. Our beliefs should make a difference.
2. In the report, George Barna suggests that families should integrate the practice of living what you believe early into the lives of children. :We have found that unless outh children are taught how to tie their beliefs into their daily behavior, he chances of faith ever influencing their lifestyle in significant ways is slim.”
3. The world is watching – we need to show we are Christians by our lives – by our love for God, the world and all people.

Rebecca Wolfe cCYS