American evangelicals, who profess to be committed to Truth, are among
the worst abusers of simple descriptive statistics, which claim to
represent the truth about reality, of any group I have ever seen. At
stake in this misuse are evangelicals’ own integrity, credibility with
outsiders, and effectiveness in the world. It is an issue worth making
a fuss over. And so I write. Complete article
Let me be blunt… this article is talking primarily about Barna Group. Critiques of Barna have been going on in the academic world of Christian education for the last several years and it is finally boiling over into the public arena. Basically, the most quoted name in Christian research has been accused of methodology problems for years. (At least 50% of the time, hahahaha!) I first picked up on this while reading a church history book by Notre Dame history professor Mark Noll. (long time Wheaton College history professor) In his book, American Evangelical Christianity, Noll made the observation that Barna’s definition of an evangelical was shifting significantly. Essentially this "window" of what they were labeling "evangelical Christian" was changing drastically. They were labeling all sorts of people evangelicals… which skewed their other research about "evangelical Christian behaviors" including some often quoted"truth" we’ve all heard like, "Evangelicals divorce at the same rate as non-Christians." I’m certain that this wasn’t the first mention of it, but since the 2000 release of that book this point of view has been gaining steam.
I want to be careful how I say this… because there isn’t absolute consensus on this in the evangelical world. But
I’m simply making my own personal resolution. I’m not going to use any
of Barna’s research, and I’m not going to rely on the motivating factor
of statistics for communicating Biblical truth. Research has it’s place… but with so many abuses out there, I want to be extremely careful.
I’ve often told people who talk to me about youth ministry trends because of my involvement with YMX,
"I’m not sure I’m an expert on Romeo culture, so everything I’m telling
you is skewed by my own perspective. This is what I see happening from
my small town." I think the author of the CT article about, Christian
Smith, is the best researcher in youth ministry. And I have read and
used his research before. But even with his research I want to be
careful in how I use it.
The truth is that sound bytes are powerful. Christians will take notice and shell out dollars because of statistics… even misquoted ones or ones that aren’t true.
I can’t speak for anyone else in the world but me… but I will be
careful to use statistics in good conscience. I don’t ever want to
motivate people with false statements and I’d encourage everyone I know
to be weary of organizations that motivate you to buy, give, or spend
by quoting statistics. A sound byte may be powerful and easy to gain
access to, but always… ALWAYS make certain that the sound byte is
based on valid research.
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