In a fresh study of “Bible engagement” released yesterday, LifeWay Research surveyed more than 2,900 Protestant churchgoers and found that while 90 percent “desire to please and honor Jesus in all I do,” only 19 percent personally read the Bible every day.
LifeWay also found that higher levels of Bible engagement were correlated to six actions:
1. Confessing wrongdoings to God and asking forgiveness.
2. Believing in Jesus Christ as the only way to heaven and the number of years one has believed this.
3. Making a decision to obey or follow God with an awareness that choosing to do so might be costly. (63% of churchgoers say they have at least once in the last six months.)
4. Praying for the spiritual status of people they know are not professing Christians.
5. Reading a book about increasing their spiritual growth. (61% of churchgoers say they have in the last year.)
6. Having been discipled or mentored one-on-one by a more spiritually mature Christian. (47% of churchgoers say they have been discipled or mentored.)
“Bible engagement points people toward maturity and maturing Christians have practices that correspond to Bible reading,” said LifeWay Research president Ed Stetzer. “Almost all churchgoers want to honor God, but more than a third indicate obedience is not something they have done when it is costly to them.”
