As reported by Christianity Today, new research shows that 20 percent of non-Christians (about 13.4 million people) in the nation do not “personally” know any Christians. The research comes from Gordon-Conwell’s Center for the Study of Global Christianity and missiologist Todd M. Johnson.
According to the CT article, the worldwide numbers are much worse (8 in 10 people worldwide don’t know a Christian), but Christians only make up a third of the world’s population. In the U.S. 80 percent of the nation identifies as Christian.
Johnson said immigration is to blame for why so many North American non-Christians have no Christian acquaintances. The U.S. attracts more Buddhist, atheist, and agnostic immigrants than any other country in the world, but we also attract more Christian immigrants than any other country. People move in but don’t venture out, explained Johnson, but also Christians are not so good at venturing in.
“The United States is a very strategic place for people to interact,” said Johnson. “It’s ironic in a place with all the freedoms to interact that people don’t do it. In light of the deficit of contact, what better thing could happen than to have a bunch of people move into your neighborhood and build houses of worship?”
CSGC research associate Gina Bellofatto said there is an “apparent apathy” among Christians about befriending non-Christians, especially if it means reaching across neighborhoods and towns into more ethnic enclaves. “I don’t know how many more million Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Jews need to come to this country before it becomes a priority,” she said.
