By Ben Johnson
The Washington Stand
Christians believe they should share biblical solutions to America’s cultural issues, but they feel unequipped or “afraid,” due to cultural pressure, a new poll has found.
“A Survey on Christian Cultural Engagement,” which polled 1,000 evangelical Christians, was commissioned by the Institute for Faith and Culture (IFC), founded and led by Rob Pacienza of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church and Truths that Transform, and carried out by Lifeway Research.
Most said they have the chance to discuss biblical truths with those outside the church, who disagree with them, but only 30% seek out such opportunities. Roughly one in four Christians (27%) felt they had the necessary tools to carry out such a dialogue, and 31% described themselves as “reluctant” or “indifferent” about sharing their faith-centered views.
“It’s not just that some churches shy away from the public square. Actually, Christians do know that they should be involved in politics and government. They do know they should be involved in culture in every sphere of their life. But they’re afraid to do so for some reason,” said Lauren Cooley, executive director of IFC, on “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins” Wednesday.
“While our faith is to be a personal faith, deeply personal, it’s not to remain private. It’s to be shared with others” and with “different spheres of culture,” said Cooley.
“They know. They believe. But then they fail to act,” she said.
While the Bible exerted the greatest influence on how confessing Christians form their views of social problems, only half credited the Bible as the cornerstone of their worldview. One in three heeded social media influencers, their teachers, or their political party.
In a concerning development, 20% of evangelicals said the Bible is “not relevant for most daily decisions,” and 24% have given up trying to influence the culture. Fully 24% of Christians believe “God is unconcerned with if or how they vote.”
Some 80% of evangelical Christians admit they “have trouble understanding how to apply the Bible’s teaching to important questions in their life,” and 13% believe the Bible is “silent on most of the big questions our society is facing.”
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said the research presents “a troubling disconnect” in the lives of evangelical Christians. “While an overwhelming 93% of respondents believe it’s important to interpret the world through Scripture, and 87% believe the Bible speaks to modern issues, those beliefs have not translated into the hearers of the word becoming ‘doers of the Word,’ as the Apostle James instructs us” (James 1:22).
To solve this, preachers must use the pulpit to tell parishioners they must begin “connecting your biblical values to the way you live your life,” Cooley told Perkins.
“First, even though people want to have those tough conversations, they don’t necessarily feel equipped to” do so, said Cooley. That may be due to the fact that one in four evangelical Christians attends church less than once a month, and nearly one-third read the Bible no more than on a monthly basis. “But then we also found that people are just scared. We see so often that if you speak out on issues of our day and you speak with moral clarity, you get called names. You get demonized.”
She noted the terms “racist,” “sexist,” and “Christian nationalist” have become the preferred slanders of the anti-Christian Left.
“But the reality is, the reasons we talk about these issues is because we love others. We think that God’s design is what’s best for human flourishing,” Cooley reiterated.
“To be scared of being called names is really not a great reason why not to follow God’s word,” she concluded.
Originally published at The Washington Stand!
