Christ Community’s first annual spiritual health survey saw around 15% of its adult average worship attendance respond and revealed information that’s both helpful and challenging to the continual spiritual growth of the CCC family. 15 male respondents and 13 female respondents reflected on their spiritual health in 3 areas: biblical knowledge, missional activity, and fruit of the Spirit.
Fruits of the Spirit
The survey showed that CCC members felt most healthy as it related to embodying the gospel through fruits of the Spirit. Individuals reflected on each fruit on a scale of 1-10. The overall average was 6.74. Love was the highest rated at 7.43 with patience being rated the lowest at 5.89. Women scored more highly than men in 8 of the 9 fruits. The one area where men scored higher? Patience.
Comments in this section revealed that simply reflecting on each fruit was a catalyst for depending more on the Lord. Many also noted that the level to which they felt they embodied these values was parallel to their dependence on the Spirit. One person remarked, “I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry on some of these.” While another recognized, "Only as Christ controls me can I exhibit any fruits of the Spirit!"
Biblical Knowledge
Coming in second was biblical knowledge. When asked to rate their biblical knowledge on a scale of 1-10, respondents average response was 6.29. Men’s responses were slightly higher than women. 60.7% of people said they engaged with Scripture daily while another 25% said they engaged with Scripture weekly.
In the open comments, more than 25% of respondents shared that biblical community was essential to their growth and health in this area. Several others noted the difficulty that having young children created to spending the time in God’s Word that they wanted to.
Missional Activity
The area in which the CCC family felt the least spiritually healthy was missional activity. The survey loosely defined missional activity as mission trips, serving in the community, and sharing one's faith. The average score on a scale of 1-10 was 5.64 with no respondents saying they shared their faith on a daily basis. Men again graded themselves slightly higher than women.
The comments revealed that there are a variety of activities that people are doing with missional hearts, but many wish they could start and engage in gospel conversations more effectively. One person reflected, “I wish I knew more of the Bible to help share that with people.”
Who is the Lord sending you to disciple?
Respondents were asked this question and right around half listed specific people in their lives, many by name. Some were unsure or didn’t respond. Others, still, were eager to start or help start new groups as the Lord leads.
Observations & Next Steps
We need to take advantage of the missional opportunities the Lord gives us to grow spiritually. In moments where we have the opportunity to share our faith, we often focus on our fear or insecurities. We often fail to see these as opportunities for our own faith to grow and, thus, become healthier spiritually ourselves. What if going is growing? Sharing our faith pushes us to expand our biblical knowledge as well as be full of the fruits of the Spirit as we build relational bridges in order to share the gospel.
Reflecting on the Fruits of the Spirit increases our hunger and need for the Lord. Several commenters noted this, and it begs the question, “Why don’t we reflect on those more often?” Self-reflection can slow us down just enough to give attention to the Spirit’s leadership in our lives, humble us, and invite the Lord to change us.
Our lack of patience might actually be the thing preventing us from jumping in. It could be that our lack of patience (5.89 out of 10 on average) causes us to miss opportunities to share the gospel as we become too busy moving forward on our own failing to wait on the Lord to open doors for sharing.
With names and personal information removed, see the Data.
Comentarios