For the past 10 to 20 years, national church attendance has hovered around 40%. I'm not sure if that's a big deal or not. If Christians feel that what we do every Sunday is worth believing in, then it probably should be a big deal. What if a new poll reported that only 40% of Americans take baths? Pretty gross, right? We'd wince at that statistic because most people believe that bathing is necessary to good health. I guess with church-attendance statistics, we've grown a bit numb and many even take the 'to-each-his-own' perspective.
So church attendance isn't looking all that great. Now comes the obvious question: what can we do about it?
As a worker in the church, I have to consider statistics such as these. It makes my job hard, though. How am I supposed to help our local church grow when attendance is down all over the nation? As tempting as it might be, we can't simply stay with the attendance numbers that we're at. That's ignoring Jesus's mandate to "go and make disciples."
Are people not interested in spirituality anymore? No, people are still very interested in spirituality.
Are people distrusting of organized religion? Hmmm...
I believe that organized religion has a black cloud over its head. This cloud isn't going away anytime soon, either. Because of our disjointed methods of evangelism, we've represented our God in some negative ways over the years. There is no consistency. One church will say that homosexuals aren't welcome and another will allow homosexuals to preach from their pulpit. Who's right? Could they both be right somehow? One church allows women to preach, another doesn't. Again, who's right? The world watches us and shakes its head in confusion. Where did we go wrong?
There are plenty of books available that offer suggestions to break this negative evangelism cycle. No Perfect People Allowed: Creating a Come-As-You-Are Culture in the Church by John Burke, They Like Jesus But Not The Church by Dan Kimball, Lord, Save Us From Your Followers by Dan Merchant and UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity ... and Why It Matters by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons are all great books addressing the negative stereotypes surrounding the church. But again, these books aren't 'Gospel.' They're just opinions and interpretations. Some will accept these evangelism methods, some won't. And we're back to square one.
Still, it's a topic important enough to discuss and seek out ways to break through the negative perceptions held against us by many outside the church.
I'll end this entry in the series with a quote from George Barna, whose company studies nationwide church participation. Mr. Barna addresses the challenges that Christians face in bringing the unchurched into our places of worship. He writes, "The numbers consistently point out that those who live without a regular face-to-face faith connection tend to be relatively isolated from the mainstream of society, tend to be non-committal in institutional and personal relationships, and typically revel in their independence. Attempting to get them involved in the life of a church is a real challenge. The best chance of getting them to a church is when someone they know and trust invites them, offers to accompany them, and there is reason to believe that the church event will address one of the issues or needs they are struggling with at that moment." As the church, we've got a challenge before us.
1 comment:
Reading backwards through your posts, I see that you've taken a look at a lot of stuff, just as I do. But sometimes, I wonder, are we crippling ourselves, or sabotaging ourselves by believing everything a book or article that is written out there that declares that Christianity is dying.
I find it interesting that the statistics themselves are showing that one side of Christianity is dying while the other side is growing exponentially. Which is doing what, though? Well, Liberal Christianity, the side that goes more with the what-you-feel standard rather than the measuring rod of God's Word, is rapidly dying in the United States. People are observing and learning that liberal Christianity will not, nor can it, answer the questions that so many people are needing answered.
On the other side, Evangelical (conservative in many areas) Christiany is growing exponentially. People are so hungry for the truth and for something that is absolute that will give them answers that they can stand on confidently, that they are flocking to the evangelical side knowing that those on that side are working harder to pursue God and become more like Christ. These leaders on this side are less likely to compromise on God's Word, though it does happen sometimes because of our fallen nature.
When we compromise on God's Word, His word loses power in the lives of believers everywhere. The church, the body of Christ, becomes weak and fragile, and is sure to break under the pressures and temptations and sins of the world that try to invade believers' lives daily.
We've believed the lie that we are "self-sufficient", that we don't need anyone elses help to make it in this life. We say that we have the power, and the know-how, and the ability in our hands to accomplish all things. When we do that, we subtract God from the equation. The world minus God/God's truth equals a world of chaos. The world plus God and His truth equals a world in order because it is subject to the Creator.
When we become "self-sufficient", we no longer believe in absolute truth. How can this be? Well, we end up making ourselves the measuring rod of truth. What comes out of my mouth, I deem to be the truth. We end up claiming for ourselves that I am able to govern myself. You challenge me on this and I tell you you are wrong, well, everyone gets into a hissy-fit. So we go and say "what's right for you, is right for you; What's right for me, is right for me." This is such a lie of the devil and it ends up clouding up the truth of the matter which is we all need an authority of truth, but it can't be humans. Humans are fallible creatures; we are broken and messed up and do way too many detestible things. Only God can be the standard. We need Him because He is over all things and can see the outcome of every action we take. He is sovereign in all His ways and He rules in justice and mercy at the same time. His authority then is final and governs my action because only He is good and pure and holy.
The more we turn back to what God's Word says and commands of us. The more we learn to love Jesus and the words He gave us to live by, the more we will see power returning to the church. Why? Because the church won't be existing absent of Christ as the head. When Christ is the head, the body does what it is supposed to do. The body becomes what Christ intended us to be which is to look more like Him, which is more loving and holy, because He is accomplishing His good work within us.
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