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

If their actions match their words, 97 percent of U1s will attend church if you invite them. And once they come to church, develop relationships with Christians, and hear the gospel, this group is highly likely to accept Christ as their Savior.

A good example of this issue took place in Deborah White's interview with Carla L. of Georgia. Carla is 30 years old and has a Southern Baptist background. She did not expand on that church background. She describes her attitude toward the church as "very friendly."

She is familiar with much religious terminology, so she tells us quickly that one must "accept Jesus" to go to heaven. But when we asked Carla specifically what one must do to become a Christian, her response does not have the same clarity as her previous comments: "To be a Christian you have to have an awareness of God. You must change your life. And you must become a good person." Again, we heard the strange mix of faith and works.

But Carla is more than happy to come to church if she is invited. Her response was that she is "very likely" to attend if invited. And then when we asked her if she would like to say anything else at the conclusion of our interview, she responded almost wistfully, "It's funny you asked me to be a part of this interview. When I received your telephone call, I was excited about talking to you. My husband and I have been talking about going to church. Maybe we will."

I suspect that if a Christian in Georgia does not invite Carla and her husband to church, they will not take the initiative on their own. But once they get to a Bible-based church, they will hear the gospel. Most of these U1s, it would seem, will respond readily. The tragedy is that so few Christians are inviting the unchurched to church.

It is ironic that the church in America is so ineffective in reaching such a receptive unchurched group as the U1s. Our research cited earlier indicates that for every 85 church members only one person is reached for Christ in a year. If we simply reached one half of the U1s, our churches would see nearly 9 million new Christians blessing our congregations.

-- Excerpted from "The Unchurched Next Door," by Thom S. Rainer, Zondervan, 2003.