Barna, Jim & Casper

Georga Barna, a researcher known for using exacting survey methods (who focuses on gathering information for Christians), highlights a reality in the United States...that nearly 100 million people (one in three) don't go to any type of church:

To put that figure in context, if the unchurched population of the United States were a nation of its own, that group would be the eleventh most populated nation on earth (trailing only China, India, the churched portion of the United States, Brazil, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Russia, Japan and Mexico).

To read a breakdown of Barna's most recent findings, you can grab that right here

Of more interest to me was a look at the first chapter of a new Tyndale Publishing release Jim & Casper Go To Church. The basic premise appears to be along the lines of "those that go to church have a difficult time figuring out what visitors actually see when they walk through your doors, especially those not of the tribe." That's my summary of it, anyway...but here are the author's words:

"Finally, consider the fact that few religious leaders or churches have any idea what it’s like for an outsider to try to break into the holy huddle. Most churched people have been so immersed in the church world that they have completely lost touch with what it is like to come through the church door and try to fit into a place that has very distinct habits, language, goals, events, titles, architecture, traditions, expectations, and measurements."

Then, the authors Jim Henderson and Matt Casper, in effect, hire some "Secret Shoppers" (much like businesses use to determine similar things) and asked them to answer questions visiting 10 or 12 well-known churches in the U.S. Here were some questions the "Secret Shoppers" (also non-Christians) were asked to determine:

* What is, and how compelling is, the call to action?
* How is the Word of God integrated into practical examples of living the faith?
* What prior knowledge and belief does the church assume attenders possess?
* Is the church more interested in conversation or conversion? In dialogue or debate?
* How accessible is the heart and mind of the ministry?
* Is the church engaging people or performing for them?
* How realistic is the teaching? Is it the result of proof-texting or contextualization?
* What is the church’s capacity for listening?
* Is this a body of believers who are more interested in serving or in being served?
* What makes a church genuine and authentic in its interaction with people?
* How honest are Christians in discussing the cost of following Christ?

Sure, I would add some questions and take away some, but I couldn't help but wonder what an outsider would see when they came to my church.

Hmmmmm...

(Yes, I'm going to get the book today.)