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 | if they agreed that they had made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today, and |
| if they selected a specific statement from among seven options provided. It was: "When I die I will go to Heaven because I have confessed my sins and have accepted Jesus Christ as my savior." |
Results from the poll
The Barna Research study , announced on 1999-NOV-12, shows that the vast majority of those who are saved experience the conversion during childhood -- before the age of 14. A person who is unsaved at the age of 14 only has a 10% chance of being "saved" later in life. The survey also showed that about 40% of all American adults consider themselves as having been saved during their lifetime. This number agrees with previous surveys.| Age range | % who experience salvation within that age range |
| 5 to 13 years | 32% |
| 14 to 18 years | 4% |
| over 19 years | 6% |
Should evangelism be concentrated on children?
Barn Research concluded:
| "The data also challenge the widely-held belief that the teenage years are prime years for evangelistic activity." |
| Most church efforts to evangelize the unsaved is directed at adults -- an age group which is relatively resistant to the message. |
They concluded that more evangelical programs should be directed at children and youth.
Should evangelism be concentrated on teens and adults?
An alternative way of looking at the same data is to consider the total percentage of individuals who are saved by the time that they attain certain ages:
| Age | % who experience salvation before that age |
| 14 years | 32% |
| 19 years | 36% |
| Current age (adults only) | 42% |
The data can be interpreted as showing that, by the age of 18, essentially all members of Evangelical churches have probably already been "saved." More intensive evangelizing of their congregation's youth and adults would not result in many additional conversions.
Perhaps a conservative Christian congregation can make the most effective use of their resources by directing their evangelism programs outside their denomination, at adults who are are members of other faith groups.
By the age of 19, the vast majority of unsaved are probably:
| members of mainline and liberal Christian denominations, or |
| followers of non-Christian religions, such as Islam and Judaism, or |
| Non-theists, such as Agnostics, Atheists, Humanists, secularists, etc. |
Although this is where the vast bulk of unsaved individuals are located, it is particularly difficult to evangelize them, for a number of reasons:
| Many conservative Christians have little in-depth knowledge of non-Christian religions. Many of the resource books and web sites written by conservative Christian authors are deeply flawed and unreliable. |
| Many conservative Christians lack thorough knowledge of the beliefs and culture of mainline and liberal Christian faith groups. |
| Most followers of non-Christian religions have no concept of the divinity of Jesus Christ, original sin, and other important Christian topics. Many religions, such as Buddhism and Hinduism believe in reincarnation, rather than heaven or hell. Convincing them to accept the gospel message is extremely difficult. |
| Almost all non-theists (Agnostics, Atheists, Humanists, etc) who do not identify with an organized religion have already considered and rejected Christian teachings about heaven, hell, original sin, the Trinity, salvation, and a host of other historical Christian beliefs. To them, the thought of a God who accepted only a small minority of persons into heaven while consigning the vast majority of humanity to punishment in hell is profoundly immoral. The concept of eternal torture for a finite thought crime (i.e. not accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior before their death) is abhorrent. Many non-theists have an intense concern for civil rights. Their rules of ethical behavior are generally derived more from human rights legislation than from the Bible. They tend to hold liberal views concerning current controversial religious topics: access to abortion, equal treatment for gays and lesbians, physician assisted suicide, etc. |
References
- "Teens and adults have little chance of accepting Christ as their savior," Barna Research press release, 1999-NOV-15. This release is no longer available online. However, it was publised in the 1999-OCT issue of Barna Reports, which can be ordered at: http://www.barna.org/cgi-bin/PageProduct.asp?ProductID=66
Copyright © 1999, 2000, & 2002 by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 1999-NOV-12
Latest update: 2002-SEP-12
Author: B.A. Robinson
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