You can draw a straight line from unbelievers to committed Christians and find a person's wellbeing, and the
general outlook on life improves as he or she moves from the first to the second, according to John Plake of the American Bible Society. But he says there are a couple stops along the way that are worth looking at.
“Nominals self-identify as being Christians, but they don't say their faith is very important to them. Then there are the Casuals, these are people who they say their faith is very important to them, but they actually don't attend church once a month or more frequently.”
Nominals in the lead
Nominals are the largest percentage of Americans at 35%, slightly larger than nones. Casuals make up 12% of the population, and 20% of Americans say they're practicing Christians. Again, you can chart each group's happiness, physical and mental health and more along that line between non-Christian and practicing Christian.
“Nominals are not doing as well as, say, even casual Christians or practicing Christians are. The only ones doing worse than they are, are non-Christians. :32 Their stress levels are higher than others, they're hope levels are lower than others, and their human flourishing levels are also lower than those who are practicing a biblical faith in a Christian community.”
Plake says both new categories present mission fields to the church.
“Begin to engage people on a spiritual level. More of them are open to that kind of engagement than we would like to believe.”
