Every election cycle, the mainstream media laser-focuses on one of the largest voting blocs in America: self-identified Christians. Primarily, of course, this is in order to a) portray Christians as irredeemable hypocrites or b) warn the country about “Christian nationalism,” an ambiguous term that means very different things to different people.
For example, a pastor plugging for the GOP is “Christian nationalism,” but a pastor inviting a Democrat to use his pulpit is not. It isn’t about the involvement of the clergy in politics so much as it is about what the specific pastor in question believes. (“It’s only Christian nationalism when they do it.”)
When a non-Christian journalist whips out a Bible text, it is almost always to club a Christian over the head with it. In short: I don’t believe this text is true and I detest the Bible, but you do believe it and I’m hoping I can make you feel bad by quoting it. It’s a predictable game, and it is currently on full display as progressive politicians, reporters, and clergy insist that Donald Trump’s immigration policies are unchristian.
In case you’re trying to keep up, quoting the Bible to defend Democratic immigration policy isn’t Christian nationalism — but it would be if a Trump official was using the Bible to defend their immigration policy. Got it?
Of course, one of the things that makes the discussion around Christians as a voting bloc so messy is that many Americans identify as Christian but do not practice it or even particularly believe it – and I’m not just talking about the woman who identifies as a bishop who chewed out Trump at the National Cathedral last week.
Although a 2020 Pew Research Center survey showed that 65 percent of American adults still self-identify as Christians, a 2024 Gallup Survey noted that only 20 percent of Americans attend church weekly and 57 percent “seldom or never” attend a religious service. (Although, more encouragingly, 41 percent of Americans attend church “monthly or more,” a number that surprised me.)
Still, the data indicates that a substantial number of Americans who self-identify as Christian do not attend church. This makes generalized media statements about Christians frequently misleading. For example, there have been many stories claiming that most Christians do not practice what they preach (which is indisputable insofar as that all are sinners, but the journalists writing these stories aren’t making a theological point). But the Colson Center just released some encouraging data that I believe is worthy of coverage. According to the Center, Christians who read the Bible at least four times a week are:
30 percent less likely to experience loneliness,
57 percent less likely to get drunk,
61 percent less likely to view pornography,
228 percent more likely to share faith with others,
231 percent more likely to disciple others.
As Shane Morris, a senior writer at The Colson Center, summarized it: “‘Christians are all hypocrites’ is a dead talking point, provided ‘Christians’ means ‘people who do Christian things like read the Bible and go to church regularly,’ instead of ‘people who call themselves Christians.’” Again, the point he is making here is a social one rather than a theological one, but you get his point. When the press makes generalizations about American Christianity, it is usually relying on generalized data – that is, not sifting through the statistics to find out what sort of impact Christian practice has on behavior.
Of course, the real takeaway here is that reading the Scriptures is essential. If a 2017 Lifeway Research survey is to be believed, only 11 percent of Americans claim to have read the entire Bible once – meaning that a whopping 89 percent have not. Lifeway’s report indicates that 9 percent of Americans have read the entire Bible multiple times, 12 percent said they’d read almost all of it, and 15 percent reported having read at least half.
The Colson Center’s new data is a challenge and an encouragement to those who claim to believe the Bible (at least insofar as they self-identify as Christian) but have never bothered to read it: it will change your life for the better. And there is good news: Bible sales in America are up over 20 percent, and the Book that changed America once can do so again.
