Editor's note: For research purposes, Dr. Thom Rainer classified unchurched people into five categories, U1 through U5. U1 is the most receptive group to the gospel and U5 is the least receptive.

Among the surprising things we uncovered in our research on the unchurched is that most have a fairly high view of the Bible.

About one-third of the unchurched believe that the Bible is totally true and that it is God's Word. Another 47 percent believe that the Bible is generally true and applicable in some areas. In other words, three-fourths of the unchurched see the Bible as an inspired book, one that is unique among all literature.

Contrary to some conventional wisdom, most of the unchurched are not turned off by Christians who cite biblical passages or discuss biblical truths. While followers of Christ never should be ashamed of God's Word, it may provide some level of comfort to realize that a majority of the unchurched will gladly hear scriptural truths.

Indeed, in many of our interviews, it was the unchurched who initiated questions and discussions about the Bible.

Marilyn U. from Connecticut notes, "I've never been to church in my life except for some weddings and funerals. But I would really like to find some people who could teach me about the Bible. I would like to learn as much as possible."

Once again, however, we saw a significant disparity in the response of the unchurched at different states. Over half of the U1s actually affirmed the Bible to be God's Word, even though they are not Christians. But none of the U5s saw the Bible to be the Word of God.

— Dr. Thom Rainer, "The Unchurched Next Door," Zondervan, 2003