Imagine

The following is from an e-mail I receive from Barb's cousin Paul Schultz who is translating the Bible for Chadian people. At first I was just going to send it to dad but then I thought perhaps it would be a good alternative to my light hearted posts. Something a bit more meaningful.

The first part is taken from his newsletter. The second part is part of his e-mail which refers back to the section from the newsletter.

A recent survey by Barna found that 45% of all adults (USA) are “born again.” That number is up from 31% in 1983. The percentage hovered in the 36% to 43% range from 1992 through 2005. The current figure represents the largest single-year increase since 1991-1992. That’s awesome news...but personally, I don’t see it. I look around my community and I don’t see nearly half of my neighbors even going to church let alone acting like Christians. And I don’t see the media responding to such a huge ‘block’. Another survey by Barna showed that God was the highest priority in only one out of seven...however, that was just a verbal response...financially-speaking, only 6% tithe. I wonder what the statistic is of those who made a disciple in 2006. I wonder how different America (and the world) would look if just 10% of those who call themselves Christians, committed to making a disciple in 2007.

In the newsletter I refer to George Barna (www.barna.org) and his statistics concerning the "born again" population in the United States. To me, his statistics are incredibly high. But even if they are half right, there is a fundamental problem with how many Christians there are and how little difference we seem to make. I didn't have the space to spell it out clearly in the newsletter...but I think some of the problem stems from the fact that we are selling a 'cheap' Christianity. A 'Christ' without commitment...for instance (and I am only using this since it is easily quantifiable) Barna believes that 45% of all adults (USA) are "born again", but only 6% tithe. If 6% tithe, what do you think the percentage would be of those who make disciples? But even more importantly...what would the world look like if each of us made a commitment to disciple one person a year? What would your world look like if you discipled someone else this year?