I try to collect my thoughts and be articulate before blogging. Not this time. Too much I could say - too many directions I could take.
So, for now, let me simply share some statistics I found during my daily study time. Maybe you can flesh this out for me...
In 2007 a major survey was taken among Christians, ages 24-42, asking which of the following behaviors they had engaged in the month before. Here is how they responded:
5% - Gave someone "the finger"
18% - Engaged in sex outside of marriage
24% - Became drunk
25% - Bought a lottery ticket
36% - Used profanity in public
36% - Veiwed sexually explicit material via magazine or movie
40% - Said mean things about others
What am I supposed to do with all this? It would appear ONE in THREE of us struggles in some way or another with sexual impurities. Almost ONE in FIVE indulge this weakness to adultrous proportions.
At the same time, we certainly abhor immoral behavior.
God have mercy on those FIVE out of a HUNDRED who gave someone the finger...
DB
(Go buy the book: Un-Christian: What a New Generation Thinks About Christianity, by David Kinnaman. My stats came from pages 52-54, embedded within a great chapter on Christian hypocrisy. Sorry to all my profs in the GST for improper use of Turabian citation...Ha!)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
6 comments:
What a depressing statistic, Dave. Let me know when you come up with the answers for saving our generation.
Gooooooooooooooo Finger!
It would be great to see the statistic for the amount of "Christians" that read these stats or witnessed any of these acts (either first hand or second hand) that....
1. Passed judgment immediately
2. Passed judgment then found compassion
3. Had compassion and passed no judgment
WWJD
Dave you need to read "Do Hard Things" I can't remember who wrote it. What our generation needs is higher standards.
Ouch. I honestly wish I could say that those statistics surprise me....but unfortunately and honestly, none of them do. I don't know if that makes me a pessimist or a realist, but there you have it.
I do have to admit, though, sobering as the statistics are, your last line made me bust out laughing. ;o)
Finally! The finger stat really communicates something about what we deem inappropriate. We can break marriages and transmit disease, but Heaven forbid we give the finger...
Thanks, Court
Post a Comment