The Nosey Trinity III: Be bold; everyone believes there is a link between Christianity and good mental and physical health

Well, I wasn’t expecting such overwhelming results for my January survey. Everybody who responded to the question, ‘ Why do you think there is a proven link between practising religion and good health?’ believes the links are both mental and physical. All who answered agreed that belief in God gives people meaning, significance, hope, and comfort, AND getting out of the house and meeting regularly with other people is a good habit. That’s wonderfully encouraging.

In case you think I rigged the answers, the responses to my other two questions were more mixed.

Everyone thinks that there are benefits to being a Christian. 57% of people thought the benefits were both physical and mental. 29% thought mental peace of mind was the only benefit, whereas 14% thought the only upside was physical. Promisingly, no one responded to say they thought there were no benefits.

Do you believe that being a Christian has a positive impact on …

Despite these positive views of Christianity, there was not complete confidence in recommending church to others. Just 43% would invite a friend to church who was struggling with their health. Others felt they could share their story, though, and another person suggested seeking medical help; both of these are wise suggestions. Of course, my question was hypothetical, and I didn’t specify what kind of health problems a friend might have, so perhaps it’s unsurprising that 29% of respondents would not recommend church. I wonder if this highlights the difference between Christian faith and the church, which is often full of imperfect people and might not be the healing place we hope it is. However, we are encouraged not to give up meeting together – Hebrews 10:25.

Overall, these results suggest that having faith and attending church are universally viewed as beneficial, and we should perhaps be bolder in asking others to join us.

If you attend church, who would benefit from accompanying you? If you would like to go but don’t know a church-goer, get in touch, and I’ll try to connect you with someone who could take you along with them (this seems like a tall order, but Christians know other Christians all over the world, and God works in mysterious ways!)

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