We ran a poll on this website for 5 months, from January 1, 2015 to May 31, 2015. Please accept my apologies for the delay reporting the results.
We had 591 completed responses and 259 incomplete responses. Of the 591 responses, we had 534 (90%) who consider themselves Christian, 50 (8%) who did not, 4 who answered “I’d rather not say” and 3 who answered “I’m not sure.”
A total of 464 people (78%) said they had either talked with a co-worker about their faith or been talked to by a co-worker. Another 32 (or 7%) answered “Kinda” to the question asking if they had ever had the experience of talking with someone about their faith.
Of the 534 people who identified themselves as Christian, 490 people (92%) said they were not employed by a church or para-church organization.
Those Christians who don’t work full-time for a church or para-church organization were asked, “Do you actively look for opportunities to talk about your faith with co-workers?”
• Sometimes – 216 (44%)
• As often as I can – 118 (24%)
• Seldom – 85 (17%)
• Never – 40 (8%)
• Other – 29 (6%)
• You shouldn’t do that – 4 (1%)
We were initially curious about the answers to this question. Maybe we should have phrased it differently. Why were only 24% of the responses “As often as I can”? Could it be because of how our work tends to absorb us? I confess that “Sometimes” probably would be the most accurate answer for me, even though my intentions might be that I look as often as I can. A full 25% of self-professed Christians said they Seldom or Never look for opportunities.
The 44 people who do work full-time for a church or para-church organization were asked to estimate the percentage of Christians who were “on-mission” with Christ. The term “on-mission” wasn’t defined.
• 5% or less 7 people (16.2%)
• 10% – 14 people (32.6%)
• 15% – 2 people (4.6%)
• 20% – 5 (11.6%)
• 21% or greater (30.2%)
I read many of these responses too. Are you convicted by the low percentage of people? Could it be that, because the term, “on-mission” was not clearly defined, the number was understated? Or could it be we’ve taken the term “mission” to mean someone who’s on the payroll of a church or para-church organization?
In coming posts, we’ll have some other details and ideas to share. In the meantime, comment below on what you think about the survey results. Were they what you might have expected? Do you see anything that causes you to pause or question? Thanks in advance.
Mike Henry Sr. 