Time to Evangelize Our Evangelical Neighbors
Ligonier Ministries and Lifeway Research have partnered up every two years since 2014 to produce a survey that examines the theological beliefs of Americans. The survey presents respondents with a series of statements and asks them to indicate their agreement or disagreement. Given how often we hear narratives about how our culture is moving away from historic orthodox Christianity, it is helpful to have data on what Americans, and American evangelicals, actually say they believe. You can explore the findings for yourself here.
As you click through the various questions and results, you will quickly see just how divided Americans are on basic questions of Christian theology. For American adults as a whole, this may not be too surprising. We would not expect most non-Christians to have a firm grasp of Christian theology. However, many questions are nearly as divisive among evangelical Christians as they are among the general adult population. When evangelical Christians answered questions about the truthfulness of the Bible, the exclusivity of Jesus as the way to God, and even the divinity of Jesus, they revealed a wide misunderstanding of critical Christian doctrines.
Statement 16: “The Bible, like all sacred writings, contains helpful accounts of ancient myths but is not literally true.”
Among American adults, more than half agree with this statement that the Bible is not literally true. Evangelicals answer much better, with over 70% disagreeing, and so affirming the Bible’s truthfulness. However, the percentage of evangelicals who deny the Bible’s truthfulness has grown from 15% in 2020 to 26% in 2022. So even though a strong majority of American evangelicals believe the Bible to be literally true, a growing minority are denying this historic doctrine of the Christian faith.
Strangely, 95% of evangelical responses indicated that “the Bible is 100% accurate in all that it teaches.” This discrepancy is likely because of the way respondents interpreted different statements. Perhaps some saw a distinction between “truth” and “accuracy.” At any rate, when presented with a statement about the truthfulness of the Bible, over a quarter of US evangelicals denied that the Bible was literally true.
Statement 3: “God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.”
A second core doctrine that is largely rejected is the truth that Jesus is the only way to a restored relationship with God (John 14:6). When presented with the above statement, two thirds of American adults agreed. But even more concerning, 56% of evangelical respondents also agreed. This means more than half of American evangelicals believe that God is not terribly concerned with whether His creatures worship Him in truth. Whether you come to God through Jesus, or through keeping the Old Testament Law, or through keeping the teachings of Mohammed, God apparently makes no distinction. The responses to this question reveal how deeply American cultural values of relativism and pluralism have taken root, even among Christians.
Statement 7: “Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God.”
Finally, what did Americans and American evangelicals say they believe about God? In response to the above statement, 53% of adults agreed. More than half of evangelicals disagreed, but this is hardly comforting. Forty-three percent of evangelical respondents agreed with the statement that Jesus was not God. Yet, Jesus clearly and undeniably claimed to be God. In John 10:30, he says explicitly “I and the Father are one.” Another statement in the survey gives reason for concern that even among evangelicals who believe Jesus is God, they do not truly understand that claim. Namely, when presented with the statement “Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God,” 73% of evangelicals agreed! John 1:3 makes clear that Jesus created “all things.” Jesus, being God, is Creator; He is not a created being. American evangelicals have in many cases drifted from historic Christian truths regarding the person of Jesus.
That so many American evangelicals would reject basic, historic Christian beliefs about the Bible, the exclusivity of Jesus, and even about the person of Jesus, may reveal a crisis of discipleship in the church. In our churches, we need to realize that simply believing in God is not the test of whether one is a Christian or not. Indeed, it never has been (James 2:19). This survey reveals that many American adults claim to be evangelical Christians without any understanding of historic Christian belief. With such a deep and wide misunderstanding of Christian thought, these are by and large Americans who need to hear and understand the Gospel. As we think about strategies for sharing the Gospel in our churches, we need to prepare ourselves to dig deeper in conversations about Jesus with our neighbors, even our supposedly Christian neighbors. We need to go deeper than simply whether they believe in God or have ever attended church. This moment in our history is an evangelistic opportunity. The 2022 State of Theology report makes clear, among other things, that it is time to evangelize even our evangelical neighbors.
