America is a religious nation in the eyes of the world. But a new study revealed that the majority of Americans do not rank their relationship with God as the most important personal connection in their life.
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(Photo: AP Images / Carolyn Kaster)A boy prays during an altar call at the Creation Christian music festival in Shirleysburg, Pa., Thursday, June 28, 2007.
Seven out of 10 American adults choose their earthly family over their Heavenly Father when asked to choose the most important relationship to them, according to a Barna study released Monday.
One-third said their entire nuclear family is most important, while nearly a quarter (22 percent) named their spouse and one-sixth (17 percent) pointed to their children. An additional three percent of American adults identified their parents as the most important relationship in their lives.
Only 19 percent, or nearly one out of every five adults, said their relationship with God, Jesus Christ, the Trinity, or Allah (specific names) is the most important in their life.
Surprisingly, few American adults – only two percent – said their relationship with a specific friend was the top personal connection in their life.
People over the age of 40 are most likely to set God on top of their relationship list.
But among the subgroups, evangelicals were the only group where at least one-third said God was their most significant relationship. Seventy percent of evangelicals named their connection with God at the top of their list. Meanwhile, God is the most important connection to 30 percent of Protestants and to only nine percent of Catholics.
George Barna, founder of The Barna Group, noted that although born-again Christians assert from an “intellectual” and “theological” standpoint that God is real and influences their life, they still do not seem to “share much intimacy with God.”
“Perhaps one of the greatest gifts Christians could get this Easter is a deeper or renewed sense of connection with God, and a passionate determination to make more of the opportunity they have to know and be known by the living God,” he said in a statement.
The study also found that African-Americans are about twice as likely as all other Americans to describe their bond with God as their most important relationship.
In the political arena, conservatives were nearly three times as likely as political liberals to identify God as their most important relationship (33 percent to 12 percent, respectively).
Besides the important personal relationship, the study also asked Americans what is their most important group or network in life. The most popular answer was the church group.
Three out of every ten adults (29 percent) said their church was the most significant group affiliation in their life. The second most popular response was the people at their workplace (18 percent), followed by an association of friends that regularly gather together (14 percent), a hobby club or social group (12 percent) and interaction with people in the neighborhood (7 percent).
"People were more than 50 percent more likely to say that their church’s congregation is their most significant group than to say that God represents their most important personal connection,” observed Barna.
“That certainly reflects the interpersonal comfort that millions of people have developed at their church, but also indicates that people may have forgotten the ultimate reason for belonging to a Christian church."
Interestingly, young people (under 25 years old) listed their friends as their most important network, while church ranked fifth. In contrast, adults over 25 ranked church as their most significant group, followed by their network at work.
Other findings showed Protestants are more than twice as likely as Catholics to say their church is their main social group (44 percent vs. 16 percent, respectively), and political conservatives are more than twice as likely as political liberals to name their church as their main social hub.
The report is based on a telephone survey conducted by The Barna Group with a random, national sample of 1,004 adults over the age of 18 in July 2007.
Comments
While God should be first in importance, the family should come before the church.
People who put the church above God are the ones who become disillusioned or disappointed and drop out.
wrhalver "It's based upon faith. God does the rest. "
Or is the voices in your head that do the rest, how would one know the difference?
smbga "America is truly a religious nation."
Hmmmm?, America sanctioned slavery and exterminated the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Is reponsible for the death and destruction in Vietnam and Iraq and is planning to invade Iran and has supported dictatorships around the world for decades to protect its strategic interests. Spends more money on its military machine than all the other nations in the world combined................Hmmmmmm, religous.? Now what does that mean exactly?.
WHO REALLY IS SEEKING GOD?? America is truly a religious nation. And what did Jesus say about religion? THE FATHER, THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT HATE IT.
While you still have air in your lungs, you still have an opportunity know Him and be known by Him. You will never be able to approach the One and Only God on your own terms anyhow. Jesus Christ has already made the arraignments.
http://evolutionfacts.blogspot.com/#the_message_that_we_were_born_to_hear
mikehow: "look at these pastors, tele evangelist with how much wordly things they have acquired using money. OH where did they get the money to buy their luxury worldly things."
There's a sucker born every minute.
scitsonga
You said.....Hard to have a relationship with something I can't see, can't hear, can't feel.....
It's based upon faith. God does the rest.
Scitsonga - Very good point! When i asked Christ in my life there wasnt much of a relationship with God at that point accept that i truly believed that Jesus was the son of God and that he his sacrifice was sufficient for payment of my debt. But after I began to seek him i began to see him hear him and feel him in my life and in my family's life. Many years have passed and i now consider my relationship with Christ the most important one i have. Scripture promises that if you seek him that you will find him but you must "seek" him to begin with...
Hard to have a relationship with something I can't see, can't hear, can't feel.....
Not suprising at all. How many surveys do we see that say such-and-such percentage of Americans are Christian? The numbers quoted are always entirely unbelievable. If there were truly that many committed Christians in this country, the nation would be dramatically different!
What is actually being reported is "cultural christians" who merely lay claim to a creed without walking the walk. Little wonder that God is not first in their lives.
How many millions will be shocked when Christ says to them as goats "depart from me, I never knew you".
I don’t think having worldly things or money is wrong, those things can be a direct result of just working hard and being a good steward of what God gave you. It is only when these things become your God and start taking the place of our dependency on Christ. I am always glad to see a successful pastor that is able to provide things to his wife and children.
money is the No. 1 primary relationship instead of god. look at these pastors, tele evangelist with how much wordly things they have acquired using money. OH where did they get the money to buy their luxury worldly things.