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Professing to be a Christian, but little or no desire to grow spiritually.

“I’ve identified as a Christian for as long as I can remember, but I haven’t been pursuing a closer connection to God recently.”

People in the Professing stage identify as Christian only, but they show no intentionality toward growing a relationship with God. In fact, they likely do not think that Christianity is about knowing God. Though they might have been to the Growing stage before and may practice Christianity outwardly, such as praying about their health or attending a Christmas service at church, motivation is very low when it comes to being in Christian community, reading the Bible, or seeking in other ways to grow spiritually.

Four variants of the Professing stage also presented themselves in the data: Professing-Cultural, Professing-Moralist, Professing-Non-Practicing, and Professing-Guarded. There are a few distinctives to each of these subgroups that you may find referenced in the insights below.

Those in Professing-Cultural see Christianity mainly as a part of their cultural or family identity. Their participation in faith is most often through traditions and holidays. They have a desire to be good people but have not recently focused on spiritual growth.

Professing-Moralists hold strong moral beliefs and want to do what is right. They may have an interest in growing but lack the motivation. People who are in Professing-Moralist feel a responsibility to be good examples and often express stronger spiritual interests than others in Professing.

The Professing-Non-Practicing subgroup consists of those who still identify as Christian but their religious identity is not connected to church or faith life. They may view religion as something from their past or childhood and tend to feel disconnected from God or frustrated with the church.

People in Professing-Guarded have very low spiritual interests. They sometimes attend church or faith activities to please family and friends, but they feel generally negative toward church and view it as unnecessary. Compared to the other subgroups, Professing-Guarded people more consciously avoid growing spiritually.

自稱信仰階段的人怎麼說

「我努力做一個有良好品格的人，並向我的孩子們灌輸這些品格。」

“If I would want to grow spiritually, I perfectly could. Nothing stops me, apart from not being interested.”

“I used to practice more my faith before because of my catholic school. My faith didn’t reduce, just my participation.”

“I do good things for people and I am always willing to help people. I feel that is the way I practice my religion.”

「[身為基督徒]確實需要尊重他人，耶穌就是這樣做的。」

“I don’t want to push religion on anyone… Religion is a personal thing for me and my family only.”

“I feel like culturally my age group doesn’t make church a big part of their lives. It seemed like everyone growing up attended church, but these same types of peers now don’t. I’m not sure exactly why- stale, boring, more interesting commitments. No deep and intense faith stuck from the early days of just sitting through church.”

概覽

認同自己是基督徒，但不積極參與教會或基督教團體
渴望做個好人，做對的事
May have outward faith activity, but not recent spiritual growth.
Not particularly interested in interacting with other Christians.

洞察與特性

做個好人

視基督教為幫助人成為善良、有道德、尊重他人的人的途徑。

Evangelism & Discipleship

The vast majority of those in Professing have never shared their faith or discipled another Christian. Many cannot define evangelism or discipleship, and most believe evangelism is wrong and that trying to disciple someone would not go well.

Interests

The top two interests for Professing people are personal growth and improved mental health.

身份

"I have always been a Christian" is a common viewpoint. Most Professing people do not have a specific point in time when they decided to become a Christian. Those from certain faith traditions may point to baptism or confirmation as a starting point or milestone in their faith. Christianity is a part of their identity rather than a belief or practice.

Faith Activity

A majority of Professing people do practice their faith in some way. They might pray or help less fortunate people, and a few read the Bible or attend church. But it is not clear that these activities affect their lives.

Past Growth

For those in Professing, previous moves to Growing are very common. Professing-Moralists are the subgroup most likely to have been in Growing before. The majority of Professing-Non-Practicing have never moved to Growing.

Currently Feeling Stressed

Stress is the most common emotion currently felt across all Professing subgroups. It is most common in Non-Practicing.

他們會去哪裡及其原因

可能保持原狀

Very likely to stay here long-term due to apathy unless something shakes them out of it and helps them grow.

邁向成長

Movement toward Growing can happen through increased ministry involvement with heart change, making their faith their own, and/or gaining a new perspective on their Christian life.

Move back from Growing

Many who are Professing have previously spent time in 成長 but returned to Professing due to negative life circumstances, loss of relational support, or because they chose to start prioritizing other things over spiritual practices.

Move to Unclear

People in the Professing group might shift to 不清楚 when they stop engaging with spiritual practices, often because they are feeling disconnected from God. They may also move to Unclear if they fail to find meaning or purpose in their belief.

邁向穩固

Can move toward Grounded if they start seeking God on their own and moving toward a life surrendered to Jesus.

The best starting point for engaging with a Professing person, after you find out they identify as a Christian, is to empathetically ask, “What are the main reasons you identify as a Christian?” If their answer primarily deals with being born into a Christian family, be curious and seek to learn more about how their faith experience has impacted them personally.
The main thing that sets this group apart is their lack of desire to grow spiritually. Take the time to find out why. Is it due to boredom, a wrong view of Christianity/God, personal issues, problems with churches, or something else?
Create strategies that help overcome different barriers you uncover.

Remember, this map is how people identify themselves, which may mean that people in this stage do not fully understand the gospel and do not recall a specific point in time when they decided to start a personal relationship with Jesus.
On a similar note, you may find that you use similar words but might not be saying the same thing. Many in Professing grew up in a church setting, so they know the right words or the right things to say. This can be misleading as you seek to understand them.
Emphasize grace and faith over works. We are not trying to get people to simply change their behaviors; we are trying to engage them at a heart level, which will motivate true life change.
自稱基督徒的人如果把你看作是一個能幫助他們的「同行者」，他們可能會對你非常敞開。但如果他們覺得你威脅到他們對「基督教」的理解，就可能對你有敵意。你接近他們和與他們交談的方式很關鍵。

實驗、策略與研究

為更好地理解或接觸這一群體而創建或使用的方法和資源：
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