Rebecca McLaughlin’s excellent book 10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask (and Answer) about Christianity begins in what might be a surprising place. The first chapter opens with McLaughlin’s assertion that being a Christian is good. “I want to suggest,” McLaughlin writes, “that following Jesus doesn’t only give us a way to live our best life forever after we die. It also—in some unexpected ways—means living our best life together now.”

As my husband and I recently read and discussed this book with our three teenagers, I was struck by how much we all need reminders that Christianity is good for everyone. Our small church in western Massachusetts—like the church in many places—is surrounded by neighbors who are not only uninterested in Christianity but who believe Christianity is a danger to society. Their yard signs, raised eyebrows, and public statements accuse Christianity of being the very thing that’s wrong with the world. After a while, it can be tempting to question whether maybe, just maybe, they might be right.

But the science tells a different story. As Josh Howerton explained in his article for TGC last week, statistics reveal that sincere Christian faith produces people who are measurably more committed to vulnerable children and the poor than their non-Christian counterparts. Christian women are safer from abuse than women in any other category. And Christians in general experience greater degrees of sexual happiness and emotional health. Being a Christian is demonstrably good.

Of course, what our skeptical friends and neighbors need is not just statistics but a work of the Spirit. The cross is, as it has always been, “folly to those who are perishing” (1 Cor. 1:18). And so we pray for a work of God in their hearts, speak a word of Christ as we have opportunity, and take courage that we are inviting them to something better than they can imagine.