Non-Christian New Zealanders feel that Christians could better represent Jesus by letting their actions speak louder than their words, and by living out the values that Jesus represents.
This is just one of the many findings contained in the Faith and Belief in New Zealand report released last month.
The 67-page report contains a massive number of statistics and many easy to understand infographics.
Here just are a few examples of the information contained in the report.
Of those who took part in the study:
- 26% are warm towards Christianity
- 31% are cold towards Christianity
- Their attitude towards Christianity is most likely to be shaped by their parents and family (57%)
- The main blocker that stops them from engaging with Christianity is the Church’s stance and teaching on homosexuality (47%)
- Almost as many are influenced by the idea that a loving God would allow people to go to hell (45%)
- Church abuse has the greatest negative influence (76% massive/significant negative influence)
- 69% think Christians do not practice what they preach
- 25% know fewer than two Christians
- 9% of these don’t know any Christians
- 22% know nothing at all about the Church in New Zealand
- 60% know a little or a moderate amount about the Church in New Zealand
- 56% don’t know their local church well at all
- 51% take a neutral stance regarding the impact of the church in their local area
- They appreciate the work the Church does in helping those in need
- They most value the work of the Church and Christian organisations in providing disaster relief
- Two-thirds value the Church and Christian organisations’ work in looking after people who are homeless, offering financial assistance/food relief programmes and providing aged care facilities.
The report was commissioned by the Wilberforce Foundation. It explores attitudes towards religion, spirituality and Christianity in Aotearoa, New Zealand.
The research was undertaken during March and April 2018 by mccrindle, a research company based in Baulkham Hills, Australia.
The research employed qualitative and quantitative methods to explore Kiwi perceptions and attitudes towards Christianity, the Church and Jesus.
These methods included a nationally representative survey of Kiwis, a series of focus groups with non-Christians and analysis of Census data from Statistics New Zealand.
Read the report
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