Most Christians think Christians are becoming less popular in the U.S.

Most people who regularly attend a Protestant church in the United States believe Christians have a positive reputation. But they don’t think it’ll be that way for long, according to a new Lifeway Research study .

Lifeway Research found that 69% of U.S. Protestant churchgoers believe Americans’ perceptions of Christians are getting worse as engagement in religious communities becomes less common.

“Surely the small growth in other religions in the U.S. and large numbers of Americans that once called themselves Christians but no longer do impacted churchgoer perceptions,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, in a statement . “Not all who left the faith have ill feelings toward Christianity, but indifference is definitely a worse perception than once identifying as one.”

As McConnell noted, many survey respondents had the rise in religious “nones” on their minds as they answered the question about where public perception of Christians is headed.

Two-thirds of Protestant churchgoers said that perception of Christians is worsening because fewer Americans today believe faith in God is relevant.

Here are some other factors that respondents said are contributing to the perceived trend. (They could select more than one.)

• Christians don’t act different than those who are not Christians — 45%.
• More Americans reject Christianity because it claims to be the only way — 40%.
• Christians often look down on those who are not Christians — 38%.
• Christians often treat each other poorly in person — 29%.
• Christians often treat each other poorly on social media — 25%.
• Christians are too political — 22%.

McConnell said the share of Christians who believe Christians are harming their faith group’s reputation in some way is notable.

“Many churchgoers admit Christians are getting in the way of the message of Jesus Christ,” he said in the statement.

Although most Christians believe public sentiment is headed in a negative direction, 53% said most Americans have a positive perception of Christians right now.

A 2022 YouGov study found that 51% of U.S. adults have a “very favorable” or “somewhat favorable” view of Christianity, while just 18% have a “somewhat unfavorable” or “very unfavorable” view of the faith group.

Lifeway Research’s new study is based on an online survey conducted from Sept. 19-29, 2023 among 1,008 Protestant churchgoers in the U.S.