If Britney Spears, Denzel Washington and James Dobson were in a lineup, most Americans would know the first two but draw a blank on the evangelical leader.
A new study by the Barna Group found that a majority of Americans, when presented with 16 public figures, had never heard of some of the nation's most prominent Christian leaders, but instantly recognize pop-culture celebrities.
Rick Warren, pastor of a megachurch in Lake Forest, Calif., has sold more copies of his book, The Purpose Driven Life, than any other nonfiction work except the Bible. But three out of every four adults (72 percent) have never heard of him, the survey found.
Nearly 57 percent of adults have never heard of James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family and host of a religious radio program that reaches more Americans than any other religious personality.
Bishop T.D. Jakes, a Dallas megachurch pastor who is considered by many to be the most influential African-American minister in the country, is unknown to 68 percent of American adults, Barna found.
And 75 percent said they didn't know of Tim LaHaye, a prominent minister and co-author of the Left Behind novels, the best-selling fiction series of all time. Two out of three Americans (67 percent) drew a blank on Joel Osteen, pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston—one of the largest Christian congregations in the country—and host of the most widely viewed teaching programs in the United States.
Actors Denzel Washington, Rosie O'Donnell and Mel Gibson fared better in the minds of Americans. The percentage of adults to recognize their names were 93 percent, 95 percent and 96 percent, respectively.
“The survey statistics suggest that perhaps Christian individuals are more attuned to matters of culture and entertainment than to matters of faith,” George Barna, director of the research study, said in a statement.
“People pay attention to what they deem important. These figures may be another indicator that millions of Christians invest more of their mental energy in cultural literacy than in biblical literacy.”
The Barna Group, based in Ventura, Calif., interviewed 1,003 adults for the survey in October.