A new survey finds that Americans who regularly engage with Scripture are more likely to believe they have a calling, and that people who have experienced specific hardships and tragedies are more likely to turn to the Bible and view their faith as a source of comfort than those who haven’t faced those struggles.
The American Bible Society released the fourth chapter of its “State of the Bible: USA 2026” report last week, examining U.S. adults’ views on whether they have a calling and how hardship affects their relationship with Scripture. The findings are based on 2,649 interviews with U.S. adults conducted Jan. 8-27 in partnership with NORC at the University of Chicago.
Asked whether they had “a calling to a particular kind of work,” 15% of respondents called the statement “totally true,” 23% said “mostly true,” 25% said “moderately true,” 18% said “mildly true,” and 20% said they didn’t believe they had a calling at all.
A similar pattern emerged when respondents were asked whether they had “a good understanding of my calling as it applies to my life.” A plurality, 26%, called that statement “moderately true,” followed by 25% who said “mostly true,” 19% who said “mildly true,” 16% who said it wasn’t true at all, and 14% who said it was “totally true.”
The report tied these responses to the Scripture Engagement Scale, which measures the frequency of Bible use and the centrality of its message in people’s lives. On a 10-point scale specific to the calling questions, the Scripture Engaged — those scoring 100 or higher on the broader Scripture Engagement Scale — averaged 7.4, the highest level of agreement that they had a calling and understood it. The Movable Middle, who score between 70 and 99, averaged 6.0. The Bible disengaged, who score below 70, averaged 5.4 — the lowest level of agreement.
Respondents were less certain about whether they were still determining their purpose. A third, 33%, said it was not true at all that they were still “trying to figure out” their calling, while 23% called it “moderately true,” 22% “mildly true,” 14% “mostly true” and 8% “totally true.”
Asked directly whether they were still “searching” for their calling, 42% said “not at all,” 21% said “mildly true,” 21% said “moderately true,” 11% said “mostly true” and 6% said “totally true.”
Those in the Movable Middle category had the highest average score (5.1) based on their responses to questions about whether they were trying to “figure out” or “searching” for their calling, indicating that they were the group most likely to believe that they still needed to determine their calling. The Scripture Engaged and Bible disengaged scored similarly on this measure, at 4.7 and 4.3, respectively.
When asked if they agreed that “calling is a spiritual experience,” 30% of respondents replied “not at all,” while 23% considered the statement “moderately true,” 18% described it as “mildly true,” 16% called it “mostly true,” and 12% referred to it as “totally true.”
The report also examined the relationship between Bible engagement and a series of disruptive events that might occur in people’s lives. The term “Bible use” refers to interacting with the Bible at least 3 to 4 times a year on their own outside of a church service or a church event.
Bible use was measured at 53% among those who have experienced divorce compared to 38% among respondents who have not. Forty-nine percent of respondents who have experienced a natural disaster reported reading the Bible, while only 38% of those who have not experienced such a tragedy said the same.
Similarly, Bible use was measured at 48% among those who have faced a life-threatening illness or injury compared to 37% among respondents who have not. A higher share of those dealing with a life-threatening illness or injury (38%) agreed that their faith was “a great source of comfort” as they experienced “life issues” than those not experiencing a similar tragic event (31%).
Forty-five percent of respondents who have experienced the death of a close friend or family member reported reading the Bible, while Bible use was pegged at 35% among those who have not. A larger percentage of respondents who have faced the death of a close friend or family member characterized their faith as “a great source of comfort” amid personal struggles (38%) than those not dealing with the death of a loved one (29%).
Among respondents dealing with unemployment, 43% reported engaging in Bible use. Bible use among those who are not experiencing unemployment was measured at 37%. Thirty-eight percent of respondents facing unemployment strongly agreed that their faith was “a great source of comfort” when dealing with “life issues,” while 31% of those not experiencing the disruptor said the same.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: [email protected]
