A Spiritual Report Card
If you gave your own spiritual life a report card, would you be graduating with honors? Struggling to stay “above C level”? In danger of repeating your freshman year?
Grey Matter Research and Infinity Concepts have partnered once again. Our new report is The Spiritual Report Card: Perception vs. Practice Among Evangelicals.
The Spiritual Report Card explores how evangelicals grade themselves in 12 different areas of faith. This includes prayer, worship, Bible knowledge, giving their money, sharing their faith, and church attendance.
And, as with the math tests many of us remember, they had to show their work. We compared the grades they gave themselves with their actual spiritual activities.
Few Straight-A Students
While the average college grade point average is about 3.15, the average spiritual GPA among evangelicals is just 2.42.
Their report cards vary quite a bit from discipline to discipline. The highest grades are for “Putting God first in your life” (average GPA is 2.88) and “Your prayer life” (average of 2.87). The lowest averages are for “Helping others come to know Jesus” (2.16), “Giving your money” (2.13), and “Tithing (giving 10% or more)” (2.01).
Pretty Realistic
Most evangelicals are well aware of where they are thriving, and where they are struggling. Their grades often compare realistically with their activities. For example, 76% who give themselves an A grade for “Spending time in the Bible” actually read the Bible every day. Among those who give themselves an F, it’s just 5%.
Two exceptions to this are Bible knowledge and generosity. Many evangelicals feel they have absorbed admirable levels of Bible knowledge without actually spending much time with the Word. And among people who give themselves an A for tithing, the average proportion of their household income they give away is less than 5%.
Delusion and Discouragement
While most evangelicals are pretty realistic about the grades they deserve, there is troubling data on both ends of the spectrum. Across the various areas they graded, an average of 22% give themselves high grades without the actions to back them up (for instance, a grade of A or B on “Spending time in the Bible” while not reading it frequently).
On the other hand, an average of 10% have the actions, but still grade themselves at a C or lower (for example, attending church weekly but still assigning grades of C, D, or F for “Consistent church attendance”).
The problem for the former group is delusion – convincing themselves everything is great, when it’s not. The danger for the latter is discouragement – putting in the time, but still feeling they are wanting in these areas.
Don’t miss the new report The Spiritual Report Card: Perception vs. Practice Among Evangelicals, from Grey Matter Research and Infinity Concepts. The Spiritual Report Card is free by request – just email ron@greymatterresearch.com.
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