Why do Christians get divorced, struggle with money, and make the same mistakes as everyone else?

Partly because the relevant research is more complicated than "Christians" as one broad group. Studies that distinguish actual religious practice from simple identification tend to find real differences—regularly worshiping, praying, and living in real community is associated with meaningfully better outcomes like lower divorce rates, while just checking a "Christian" box often isn't.

A well-known 2004 Barna Group study found the divorce rate among people meeting its criteria for "born again"—based on specific beliefs, not church attendance—was statistically identical to other married adults, about 35% either way. That study never measured how often anyone actually practiced their faith, which matters a great deal.

This actually matches what the New Testament itself expects. Paul rebukes the church in Corinth for behaving like "mere humans," full of "envy and strife" (1 Corinthians 3:1–3)—real dysfunction among genuine believers, documented honestly rather than hidden.

Struggling with real life isn't evidence Christianity is false. It's evidence that calling yourself something and actually living transformed by it are two different things—which Scripture itself has always said.