The Declining Church - More Why

In a conversation with a small group on this subject a few more observations were made about possible factors that relate to the declining church.

1.  No Time for False Advertising

In one conversation I was reading regarding why more millennials don’t come to church, one millennial writer said, “Having been advertised to our whole lives, we millennials have highly sensitive BS meters.”  I think this extends beyond millennials to everyone under 50, maybe 55.  Everyone who has been a part of the media revolution has been advertised their whole life.  I remember a story by my American History teacher in high school (I graduated in 1987).  He said on a trip with a group of students they got stuck in an airport.  While they endured the long wait and boredom, since it was before smart phones, they started to sing songs together.  But the only songs everyone in the group knew as a group were commercial jingles. 

Everyone has been advertised to so relentlessly that they are looking quickly to see what it is that you want from them.  This means a church better be what they advertise.  Don’t advertise you are open to everyone if it is obvious to a guest that everyone is not welcome.  Don’t advertise you believe and follow the Word of God if you only follow the parts you like.  If someone who has been advertised to takes the time to come to church and sees something false, you can be sure they are not just put off, they are insulted at the waste of their time.  Their inclination is to immediately leave and most definitely to stop listening.

The old adage, “People don’t care about what you know until they know that you care” rings more true today than ever.  It is personal touches of caring that exhibits the hand of God from the church.  It is personal testimonies and witnesses of God’s touch in our lives that must be shared.  If the church wants people to believe its message, it needs to be believable.

2.  No Power in the Church

The church is intended to be God's Body on the earth, the Body of Christ. This means one intention of the church is to do the will of God as His physical hands and feet.  To say that the church is merely a meeting of like-minded saved people isn’t really enough.   The church should be more than this.  We were made with the view of having dominion over God’s enemy, so the church needs to be the ones who carry out God’s authority on the earth.  This means that they need to be subject to His authority in every way.  

For the Church to be built up, the members of the church need to come under His authority as the head to be in His kingdom.  So, if you have Christians in the church who refuse to be under God’s authority and are their own head, then Christ will probably struggle or simply refuse to build that church.  Ephesians 4:15-16 says ”We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love.” (MSG).

If the world doesn't see the power of God in the lives of those who profess to be Christian where is the attraction and what is the point?  Why join a church or follow a church that demands time when those people are almost exactly like you now?

In Acts chapter 5, the apostles are jailed for preaching and healing.  An angel sets them free and instructs them to go and preach again, even though the high priest has told them not to.  When they find them not in the jail and in the temple preaching they bring them to their courts accusing them of breaking their orders.  Peter replies, "We must obey God rather than human beings! The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging Him on a cross. God exalted Him to His own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him."  Then a wise teacher named Gamaliel spoke.

"Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men.  Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing.  After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God."

Today, too many churches are doing their own purpose and their activities from their own origin and they are failing.  The church needs to learn again how to listen for God's direction, then to unapologetically, with no fear of persecution or what is proper in society, and with a complete belief in the Message of God, do what He purposes for them to do in His power.

AS

Be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. – Ephesians 5:1-2

As obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” – 1 Peter 1:14-16

How is it that God has instructed us, those who proclaim in faith to be Christian, to walk as He walked and to be holy as He is holy? I find it most confusing to imagine that the God who knows my innermost thoughts, feelings, and my own sinful actions would consider making such a request. Certainly He, above all others, knows that this instruction is impossible. I know the evil man that I am, and so does God.

In Ephesians, God is instructing us to be imitators of Him, to walk as He walked when He walked here on the earth in physical form. I understand, at least partially, what is meant when He says to imitate Him because how to do this is described in the verses before and after these. But is God really asking me to walk as He walked and do what He did? While I might want to try, I am more willing to just give up and start believing in something realistic.

Then in 1 Peter God is instructing us to be holy as He is holy even unto this day. Really? God wants me to be completely set apart from this world and all that is in it and be completely Godly. Yeah, okay God. You know what? Good luck with that. I’m going to move on and just try to enjoy the days I have left rather than pursue an obvious impossible request and just end up being a pious unrealistic person just like the Pharisees were.

With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. – Matthew 19:26

1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 says “and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness”. There in this verse is the “how” of living the as. “The Lord make you … abound in love” ….[why?] … “so that He may establish your heart blameless in holiness.” The Lord enables us, through Christ, to love correctly and in the practice of that perfect love that is only available through Jesus, we can be holy.

In other words, we can be holy because He is holy who lives in us and then, through us. He lives into our actions, so we can walk as He walked and imitate Himself. Even more, one day we will give up these physical bodies and living on this planet and we will live in our spiritual selves and be where He is.

God doesn’t always name us for as we are now, but for as we will be. When the angel Gabriel called upon Gideon as a brave leader of an army, he was certainly not one … yet. Gabriel called him one because that is who he would become for God and the nation of Israel.

Perhaps, like me, you know all the things you aren’t as you compare yourself in your walk with how Jesus walked. And you know all the ways you aren’t holy as you compare yourself to His holiness. Yet, God called us to walk as He walked and to be holy as He is holy. You aren’t an impossible person that can’t be healed. God would not instruct us to do something or be a part of something that couldn’t be done. He instructed us to do so as a Father wants the best for his beloved children and He sees you for what you will become. He is what is best for us; He living in us draws us closer to Him; and He walking as He walked and being holy as He is holy is the only way the impossible can become possible.

My Beloved is Mine

My Beloved is mine and I am His.

                – Song of Solomon 2:16

One of essences of true love is to know that the one you love is yours.  This tears down doubts; it tears down fears; it tears down worry.  There is emotional security in knowing that the one you love is truly and always yours.

We fail too often to realize that the God we are to love is ours.  That Jesus who lived, died on a cross, and is resurrected is ours.  Because He is ours, we are His.  The more I realize that He lived and died for me, and the more you realize that He lived and died for you, the more we will become His. 

I wonder today if we are capable of accepting the idea that He is ours.  We are so conditioned to understand that God is so vast, so enormous, so powerful that we are barely worth noticing by comparison.  Yet, if we were the only sinning human on the planet, He would have lived, died, and resurrected just for us.  He is ours if we will accept Him.  He is yours; He is mine; and He is always there.  He will never leave us; He will never fail us; and He is always for us.  Nothing can remove you from the One who loves you forever.  My God is always mine and I am always His.

When we are able to open our heart and accept this, following Him is not work or impossible.  Serving someone that you love with all your heart is never a chore.  When we love ourselves more than the one we are serving, it is a chore and that work will create strife and bitterness.  But when we serve someone we love with all our heart, it is a joy and we even try to think of what else we can do to love them more fully!

Do you doubt God today?  Does doing “the right thing” according to His Word hurt you today?  Find His love and know that He is yours so that you can become His.  Let that love tear away your doubts and make serving Him and those He loves a joy in your life. 

Does the person you love today know that you are theirs?  Open your heart and let them know that they have all of it.  Let that tear down any doubts and fears between you.  In so doing they will become yours.

I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine.

 – Song of Solomon 6:3

Global Summary of Religion Populations

Here's a good global summary of religion populations by the Pew Research Center in 2015.  One item left out is the growth of the Christian church in China.  It has grown by 67 million in the last 50 years.  It is estimated it grows at over one million each year.

Here is the LINK to the article copied below.

Christians remain world’s largest religious group, but they are declining in Europe

BY CONRAD HACKETT AND DAVID MCCLENDON

Christians remained the largest religious group in the world in 2015, making up nearly a third (31%) of Earth’s 7.3 billion people, according to a new Pew Research Center demographic analysis. But the report also shows that the number of Christians in what many consider the religion’s heartland, the continent of Europe, is in decline.

Christians had the most births and deaths of any religious group in recent years, according to our demographic models. Between 2010 and 2015, an estimated 223 million babies were born to Christian mothers and roughly 107 million Christians died – a natural increase of 116 million. 

But among Christians in Europe the reverse is true: Deaths outnumbered births by nearly 6 million during this brief period. In Germany alone, there were an estimated 1.4 million more Christian deaths than births from 2010 to 2015. This natural decrease in Europe’s aging Christian population was unique compared with Christians in other parts of the world and other religious groups. In fact, Muslims and the unaffiliated in Europe both experienced natural increases in their populations, with our new report estimating that there were over 2 million and 1 million more births than deaths, respectively, between 2010 and 2015.

Globally, Muslims make up the second largest religious group, with 1.8 billion people, or 24% of the world’s population, followed by religious “nones” (16%), Hindus (15%) and Buddhists (7%). Adherents of folk religions, Jews and members of other religions make up smaller shares of the world’s people.

Muslims experienced the greatest natural increase among all religious groups, including Christians. Births to Muslims between 2010 and 2015 outnumbered deaths by 152 million (213 million births vs. 61 million deaths). Globally, all major groups had more births than deaths.

Not all babies will remain in the religion of their mother, of course. In some countries, including the United States, it is fairly common for adults to leave their childhood religion and switch to another faith (or no faith). Globally, however, the effect of religious switching is overshadowed by the impact of differences in fertility and mortality.

Indeed, fertility differences between religious













groups are one of the key factors behind current population trends and will be important for future growth. Globally, Muslims have the highest fertility rate of any religious group – an average of 2.9 children per woman, well above replacement level (2.1), the minimum typically needed to maintain a stable population. This fertility advantage is one reason why Muslims are expected to catch up with Christians in absolute number and as a share of the global population in the coming decades. Christians have the second highest fertility rate, at 2.6 children per woman. Hindu and Jewish fertility (2.3 each) are both just below the global average of 2.4 children per woman. All other major religious groups have fertility levels too low to sustain their populations.

Age differences are also important for future growth. Some religious groups’ adherents are predominantly young, with their prime childbearing years still ahead of them, while members of other groups are older and largely past their childbearing years. Muslims have the youngest median age (24) of all religious groups, which is also expected to contribute to their rapid growth. Hindus (27) are also younger than the median age of the world’s overall population (30), while the median age of Christians (30) matches the global median. All the other groups are older than the global median, which is part of the reason they are expected to fall behind the pace of global population growth.

The Declining Church – Why?

It’s hard to look at the statistics and put together some documentation about the declining church attendance by population even while the population is growing and not ask, why?  Why is it happening?  What are the factors in society that have changed that have created this declining church culture?

Usually when I ask others this question, lots of things jump out to people, but mostly those things are pertinent to their individual church and not to the universal church as a whole.  However, one answer is consistent among everyone that I ask – tolerance.  In my informal surveys of people living in Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, and even Washington state, each person says the tolerance of the church regarding sin is repulsive.  And because of that even they, sometimes lifelong church attendees, find themselves not desiring to go to church. 

The current societal church that includes people who purposely and boldly live in sin clearly defined by the Bible in leadership positions instead of holding them accountable for that sin and working with them to live outside of the sin is revolting to every Christian I talked with.  Currently in the Methodist church, there is a real war inside the church over homosexual persons being leaders in the church.  My estimation is that this will result in a split and there will be a separate sect of Methodists that support it and those that oppose it.  Yet that isn’t the only sin.  Others are drugs, sex, and money.  As I sit here, I can call by name former pastors who have abused children sexually, one who murdered a young woman he got pregnant while married, and one who embezzled funds.  Not church members, pastors.

I have to consider that just typing that last paragraph and thinking about it makes church unappealing to me.  If it is unappealing to me, how much more unappealing is it to someone who has never been.  Within that discussion is nothing that would attract someone to Jesus or show why He is the answer to their life.

The abounding error of the modern church is straying from the written Word of God and allowing what people want to accept as good into the church out of a fear that people will leave the church if they don’t.  By doing this the church makes people god and that makes the church irrelevant.  The only relevancy the church has is the Lordship of their Savior, Jesus.  Any time He is demoted, the church becomes irrelevant.  When the church is irrelevant, people stop attending. 

Compounding this problem in today’s churches is the inability of the church to teach and practice accountability.  The New Testament is clear in teaching how the church is to hold one another accountable for their actions, yet this is simply not practiced in today’s church.  Today’s churches teach abounding love, which is truth, but fail to teach that accountability is one of the greatest acts of love because in its essence it strives to keep someone walking in the Spirit and with the Christ. 

Another variable to consider is that the typical worshiper attends less frequently.  While the church may have a consistent number attending, the people that are there each Sunday are different week-to-week. For example, a church may regularly have 300 attendees each Sunday.  Out of that 300, 80 might only attend at least two Sundays a month.  This means that 25% of the attendees on any given Sunday are completely different from Sunday to Sunday.  This also means that there are 160 who come two Sundays a month since the attendance average is constant.  This number of “swing” attendees is growing in churches. 

Some other key aspects of society that might be affecting church decline include: 

1. Americans are doing more things alone, and less with family and friends.  
2. Smart Phones.  
3. The message from society is contrary and condemning.

Americans no longer feel the need to be a part of community organizations.  Memberships in the Jaycees, Kiwanis, Rotary, Lions and similar clubs have all been falling steadily in every community for 30 years.  The passing of the baton of community service within in these organizations to the next generation has failed.  This is partial evidence that Americans do more alone.  In his book, “Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community,” Robert Putnam indicates that 43% of Americans have fewer family dinners in 2000 than they did in 1975 and 35% fewer people had friends who would drop in to see them in their home.

Finding the reasons for why people are spending more time alone should be a research study unto itself, but it certainly must be considered as it relates to the mindset of the current generation and their tendency not be a part of an organization like a church body.  The church would be foolish not to see the trend and discover new ways to inject the message of Jesus into the lives of the new generation and the benefits of a church congregation. 

A definite influence into the doing more alone aspect of society are today’s smart phones.  Most young people (age 30 or less) are addicted to their smart phone and fell “naked” without it nearby.  Surveys indicate that that this group is okay being alone as long as they have their phone, but do not like being alone without it.  This means that a significant portion of their security and well-being is the presence of their smart phone.  As astounding and emotionally unhealthy as this is, it can’t be ignored as not existing by the church and the church should learn to focus its message to meet this need. 

Another fact that the church needs to accept is this new generator gathers almost all their information about the world, living, entertainment, and communications through their smart phone.  The church, if it wants to be relevant, must find a way to get into that device that every person, and especially every attendee, carries with them.

Unfortunately, the message of today’s society is becoming clear in its targeting of Christians and the Christian message.  And its being done in a multitude of news outlets, opinion articles, and entertainment every day.  This constant barrage against Christianity is an attack against the church and this is what the new generation learns since all their information comes through the smart phone.  The church must accept that American is now against the church, not for it.  The absence of this acceptance has been detrimental and has put the church on its heels.

Most assuredly, there are other reasons that contribute to the decline of the church.  The reality is, the church must re-grasp its primary purpose to declare the message of Jesus to the world and disciple those who follow Christ.  And it must stand on God’s written Word, no matter what society says.  Otherwise it will die as irrelevant and America will be lost, then forgotten.

The Declining Church

In a recent Newsletter from Jim and Susie Horne who have been missionaries to Kenya for over 40 years, Jim indicates that 91% of the churches in the U.S. are in decline.  91%.  I’m not aware of where he got his research, but that is a scary high number.  While I don’t want to believe it, I must admit to myself that I see it every Sunday.  So, what is really happening? 

A little research indicates that this is well documented.  Not necessarily the 91% number, but plenty of high numbers in that area.  The most consistent number is that 80% of churches are in decline.  I also noticed that it is important to look carefully at the question asked in the surveys.  If the question was “Do you attend church frequently or regularly?” The result is a much higher number in church attendance than if you asked, “Do you attend church at least two times a month?”  The first question in one survey resulted with an answer of 45%.  When asked the second question, that number dropped to 22%.  These were asked in a, get this, 1992 survey that included Orthodox, Evangelical, and Protestant denominations.  1992!  In 1992 only 22% of Americans attended church at least twice a week.

Since that time there is a well-documented trend that regular church attendance is falling.  According to the 2015 Pew Research survey, only 14.7% of people in the U.S. consider themselves to be a Protestant (Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, etc.).  This isn’t church attendance, but those who will identify with being a Protestant.  In 2007, that number was 18.1%.  Not only are few people attending church, but fewer are identifying with a church denomination.  This is happening while the population grows.  The same Pew Research study indicates there are five million fewer mainline Protestant adults in 2015 than in 2007.  This happened while the population grew by 24 million.  This seems to me to be completely counter intuitive.  One would reason that the church would maintain a plateau or growth, even if only slightly, with the population growth.  But this clearly isn’t the case.  One article indicated that the U.S. now ranks third, behind China and India, in the number of people who are not professing Christians.  I personally find that hard to believe after visiting Russia and I had a difficult time finding the source of that statement, but with only 15% population that will identify with a church it isn’t hard to imagine.

There is an exception to this trend.  Churches averaging 1,000 or more in worship have consistently grown since the 1980s, even to this present day.  That category is the only tier consistently not in decline.  No one seems to really knows why.  One thought is that we live in a consumer culture, so there is naturally a church consumer culture.  And people believe they’re upgrading to first class when they go to a larger church as there are nicer facilities and the best services in music and preaching. 

Back to our attendance topic, we have to consider that Europe had 8% who indicated that they regularly attend a church back in 2002.  Today, Europe surveys indicates that only 4% (some articles state 2%!) regularly attend a church.  America is following that pattern with zeal.

Thom Schultz is CEO of Group Publishing and director of the film “When God Left the Building” which is a documentary about the overall decline of congregations in America.  As they followed the decline of churches, they summarized that the declines came as a result of a variety of factors including: internal strife, a loss of mission, and other “really petty stuff”.  “They really just lost their love, their first love of why they were a church in the first place.”

Another odd statistic that might relate to that last statement is the decline in established churches.  Every church 40 to 190 years old declined in attendance.  Every single one.  The only churches showing increases were built in the 1970s or later.

The current estimate is that by the year 2050, 10% or less of Americans will attend church.  This is a very small segment of society.