Over the years, Barna has learned that adults want their jobs to produce passion, not just a paycheck. For Christians, this desire goes even deeper, and it’s driven by the idea that God gives each person specific gifts to do … something.
As the world and our workplaces rapidly change, it’s never been more important for people of faith to think deeply about what they are made to do and why they do it – which is why Barna has embarked on a multi-year initiative focused on vocation, beginning with the new report Christians at Work.
Conducted in partnership with Abilene Christian University, the Christians at Work study examines employed, self-identified Christians in the United States to offer a far-reaching, deeply introspective assessment of a sense of vocation in the Church, specifically through one’s profession (as distinct from other valuable yet unpaid forms of vocation, like volunteering, hobbies, parenting, homemaking, etc.).
The report also introduces custom Barna profiles of Christians in the workforce – the faith-work Integrators, Compartmentalizers and Onlookers – so that leaders can learn from those who experience an overlap of calling and career and better disciple those who don’t yet.
In the next few weeks, Barna is publishing a series of their central findings from Christians at Work. Overall, the data show that Christian workers seek (and often find) meaningful, purposeful employment –and that they don’t necessarily think ministry is superior to the marketplace.
