When someone takes that step of faith to become a Christ-Follower, the change in their life should be surprising. But when we look at statistics, we see that most Christians live just like the rest of the culture.

I found some interesting statistics, revealed by The Barna Group form a survey they did on born again believers…
• One-third of all adults (34%) believe that moral truth is absolute and unaffected by the circumstances. Slightly less than half of the born again adults (46%) believe in absolute moral truth.

Only one-quarter of adults (28%) believe that it is impossible for someone to earn their way into Heaven through good behavior. Not quite half of all born again Christians (47%) strongly reject the notion of earning salvation through their deeds.

A minority of American adults (40%) are persuaded that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life while He was on earth. Slightly less than two-thirds of the born again segment (62%) strongly believes that He was sinless.

I find it shocking to read that over half of those who describe themselves as “born again” don’t believe in moral absolutes or salvation through the free grace of God, and over one third don’t believe in the sinless life of Jesus.

George Barna went on to say that “although most Americans consider themselves to be Christian and say they know the content of the Bible, less than one out of ten Americans demonstrate such knowledge through their actions.”

Is it any wonder that we feel empty spiritually?

Being a Christ-Follower is about more than just saying we believe in Jesus… it’s about experiencing the change in our lives that should be occurring because of that belief. God is continuously trying to shape, mold, and renovate our lives as we follow him in faith. He doesn’t want to just give us a better life, but rather a supernatural new life based on a new birth. The point of that new birth is the new life we live between forgiveness and eternity. A new way of doing things… with Christ being present in every detail of our life.

Too often we associate this new birth with something we affirm intellectually. We have churches full of people who all believe the right things about Jesus, but aren’t passionate about any of them! I love this quote from Blaise Pascal: God desires to move the will rather than the mind.

It’s not about what you THINK. It’s about what you are willing to live and die for… what you are passionate about… what moves your will. Take some time and think about what that means for you. Reflect on the fact that God doesn’t simply want to change your mind… he wants to change your heart.