The Barna Group - Are Christians More Like Jesus or More Like the Pharisees? - 1 views
www.barna.org/...sus-or-more-like-the-pharisees
christians jesus attitude workplace behaviour religion relationships theology
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20 statements
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I listen to others to learn their story before telling them about my faith. In recent years, I have influenced multiple people to consider following Christ. I regularly choose to have meals with people with very different faith or morals from me. I try to discover the needs of non-Christians rather than waiting for them to come to me. I am personally spending time with non-believers to help them follow Jesus.
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I see God-given value in every person, regardless of their past or present condition. I believe God is for everyone. I see God working in people’s lives, even when they are not following him. It is more important to help people know God is for them than to make sure they know they are sinners. I feel compassion for people who are not following God and doing immoral things.
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I tell others the most important thing in my life is following God’s rules. I don’t talk about my sins or struggles. That’s between me and God. I try to avoid spending time with people who are openly gay or lesbian. I like to point out those who do not have the right theology or doctrine. I prefer to serve people who attend my church rather than those outside the church.
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I find it hard to be friends with people who seem to constantly do the wrong things. It’s not my responsibility to help people who won’t help themselves. I feel grateful to be a Christian when I see other people’s failures and flaws. I believe we should stand against those who are opposed to Christian values. People who follow God’s rules are better than those who do not.
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Christ-like in action, but not in attitude • Christ-like in attitude, but not action • Christ-like in neither
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The findings reveal that most self-identified Christians in the U.S. are characterized by having the attitudes and actions researchers identified as Pharisaical. Just over half of the nation’s Christians—using the broadest definition of those who call themselves Christians—qualify for this category (51%). They tend to have attitudes and actions that are characterized by self-righteousness.
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On the other end of the spectrum, 14% of today’s self-identified Christians—just one out of every seven Christians—seem to represent the actions and attitudes Barna researchers found to be consistent with those of Jesus.
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About one-quarter (23%) of evangelicals are characterized by having Jesus-like actions and attitudes, which was higher than the norm
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Looking at America’s evangelical community—a group defined by Barna Group based on its theological beliefs and commitments, not self-identification with the terms “evangelical”—38% qualify as neither Christ-like in action nor attitude
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Evangelicals are notably distinct from the norms in two ways: first, they were slightly more likely than other Christians to be Christ-like in action and attitude.
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in the “middle ground,” with so-called jumbled actions and attitudes, evangelicals are the only faith group more likely to be Pharisaical in attitude but Christ-like in action.
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The research shows that non-evangelical born again Christians and notional Christians were not much different from one another and not too distinct from national norms among all Christians.
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