Thank you, Dr. Stetzer. Stats abuse not only sinfully distorts the truth but contributes to the "anti-intellectual" perception of evangelicals among secular academics. Your integrity in this area is not only a breath of fresh air but a witness as well.

That's interesting, Ed, and I think indicative of what we already know: pastors and Christian leaders co-opting advertising strategies to promote their causes.

People like statistics because they smack of authority. And statistics are hard to argue with because most people won't do the dirty work to find out if it's true...and most people who use the statistics won't connect back to the source. As you probably know, there's a rigorous mindset involved when using statistics that most people don't posses, so this isn't really an evangelical problem...it's a human problem, most notably of the lazy kind. ;-)

Ed,
This is a great post. Thanks for what you do to bring a vocie of reason and sanity back to the equation. I thought of the "Chicken Little" concept again when reading this. Yelling that the sky is falling has a certain effect if you are in the barnyard (world) and trying to get people to come into the barn (church). But, what exactly do we accomplish by yelling the "sky is falling" while sitting in the barn? Do we really expect that those in the barn are going to be pumped up about going outside?

Thanks for reminding guys like me to be good stewards of everything God entrusts...including statistics and cultural research.

I, too, think this is a terrific post.

A lot of what I hear in the "negative vein" seems to be oriented at laying a "guilt trip" on believers. I've heard it said that we (here) live in the most unchurched county in Alabama, and it's our fault; I suppose that's aimed at motivating Christians to do something or other, but that seems like blaming sickness on well people!

And I hear about .. and see .. less real joy in serving God, than about our shortcomings.

I suppose it's all well-intentioned, but maybe we ought to look at the results and ask if we're missing something, somewhere.

My dad always told me: "Figures don't lie, but liars can figure"

Not that those who do this are "liars" in that sense; but it's still a good phrase to keep in mind for keeping things in perspective.

Thanks for the great article. I am currently a church planter raising support and I am scared to use statistics. I would love to get some accurate information. Where could I get that. Here are some things that we have heard, but I want to be ethical in my presentations:
I have heard that America is the 3rd, 4th, and 5th (from your book) largest mission field on earth.
We have read that number of Christians is on the decline.
We have read that more churches close than open. Could you please help.

Hi Ed!

I believe we should be teaching church leaders in local areas to do their own statistical studies. When I was youth pastor, it was very easy to every two years contact every local church within a 20 mile radius and ask how many teenagers would hey best estimate are in their churches. I know that limits it to teenagers who are part of formal churches, so that was taken into consideration. And then we would call up every high school and find out what their annual enrollment is. So we could have actual local statistics of how many teenagers were part of churches by 2 days of time in making phone calls.

We did the same thing when we planted our church in 2004. It took more than 2 days, but we had volunteers contact every single church within a 20 mile radius. We asked questions about children, youth, college and adults. We then contacted school and used the last population census - so we know it wouldn't be totally accurate as the census wasn't from that year, but pretty close.

What I can say is that when we did a local survey and took the time to do it - it was very (VERY)different than the national ones based on 1,000 random people sort of a thing. So honestly, I have stopped even using national statistics when I teach in our church as they were so different from when we did an extensive local one. And as I build a case for local ministry, I want to be accurate to the people around us as possible.

I'd love to see effort made to encourage pastors and churches to do local surveys and then be able to more confidentally have an actual picture of what their local area is about.

loved the article. thanks ed.

This article was great. I am a statistical cynic. As a Public Relations Major in college, I would do stats and always knew that they would be skewed in some way...whether it be based on the types of questions (whether it be consciously or subconsciously) that were asked...or bad math...or a bad test sample. So whenever I read statistical information, I immediately understand that in someway that the research is skewed.

I appreciate the effort to speak to all of these different numbers. I thought it was funny the pie chart at the end given my "beef" with stats.

I would agree with the person from above that bad stats lead to academia making a mockery of evangelical leanings. I have always heard the statement that 90% of all statistics are made up on the spot...I pulled that number from thin air.

This was a thoughtful and well put together piece that does not dig at these different agencies but clarifies for many what the intent was. I appreciate that Ed.

Great article. I have been concerned about some of the abuse of statistics by pastors about the divorce rates in our churches.

Dan, great thought and great suggestion about doing local research to determine the actual ministry context of our ministries.