And speaking of “How Unbelievers View The Church,” during his portion of the interview Ed Stetzer said that his research indicates an openness to bible study among unchurched twenty-somethings. Stetzer said:
"…We asked a total of 1,000 twenty-something unchurched people; 900 American, 100 Canadian. And we compared them to a sample of 500 older unchurched (30 or above). ... And what we found is that yes, there are negative views of the church, two-thirds saying the church is full of hypocrites, people who do one thing and say another. But there was also great openness that's there. One of the questions that we asked them to agree or disagree with was: "I would be willing to study the Bible if a friend asked me to?" Among twenty-somethings, 61-percent said, "Yes." Among their older counterparts of 30 and above, 42-percent said, "Yes." That was a statistically significant difference saying there is something going on, there is an openness that's there. So we're seeing that as an opportunity that in the midst of some negative views of the church there is also some openness to the things of God."For more on this see Stetzer’s latest book, Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches that Reach Them (B&H 2009).
—Ed Stetzer, The Albert Mohler Program, July 30, 2009, timestamp 22:55—23:46.
