Startling Statistics

In our ongoing sermon series on the book of Mark, our pastor arrived at Mark 5:1 about the man who lived among the tombs inhabited by so many demons they called themselves "Legion". He prefaced the sermon with some statistics that really surprised me:

1) Only 1 in 10 Americans believe all of the following: Jesus lived a sinless life; there is a Holy Spirit; and there is an evil Spirit called Satan.

2) Only 38% of those calling themselves Christians believe in Satan.

Whoa! That second one is really startling, almost frightening to me. I think I can safely assume from such a percentage that over 1/3 of those calling themselves Christians are likely living in defeat because they fail to believe that Satan is alive and well.

Now, granted, most of the troubles in our lives we bring on all by ourselves. Further, Satan probably doesn't concern himself much with this 38% because they aren't a threat to him as they don't acknowledge his very real presence in the world.

But in the end, I'm saddened most because this 38% of Christians haven't read enough of scripture to realize he exists and is active in his purpose. Or worse, they read it but don't believe it's true.