Coming up with topics to write these blogs on, is sometimes more difficult than the writing itself. As I was sitting in my office struggling to find anything to write about, I was reminded of a thought that I had on the way home this morning. As we drove by a couple of churches that are in very short supply of people under the age of 60, I started to wonder where those churches might be in 30 years, and then to where the Christian church as whole might be in that same span.
With technology being what it is, I started doing some research on the decline of the Christian Church in Europe and that compares to America. In Europe today, there are only 12% of the people that profess to be of a Protestant religion and of those only 8% of them attend church on a regular basis, meaning less than 1% of the European population.
In an attempt to see if it was better with the countries that where most involved with the Reformation, weekly attendance for those countries is a whopping 1.1%.
Right now, the United States is doing much better than that, with 40% of Americans professing to be protestant, and 44% of them (17.6% of Americans) attending church regularly. Here’s the problem though, when you consider the ages of those who attend church on a regular basis, how long will it be before we are right in line with Europe?
Wow. What happened, and what can be done?
Obviously, it can’t all be attributed to one cause, a lot of things change in 500 years. Some of the major factors would include.
- Intellectual shifts
Basically, we believe that we have become smarter than God. With the introduction of the age of enlightenment and the theory of evolution. People started to question everything and promote their own thought process above what God’s Word says.
- Social and Political Changes
Governments took over education. World Wars made people question God, and the churches lost authority.
- Economy, and Lifestyles
The industrial Revolution brought more people to the cities, and people became numbers in churches rather than people. Work became more important than church and material possessions became the new god. Not to mention once the internet and social media was introduced, people are stated to drift away from face-to-face contacts.
- Church Scams
You don’t have to look very hard to find some religious leader that has been recently caught in some sin. On top of that, there are churches that are more interested in the “financial rewards” than the Spiritual growth.
On top of that, the lack of relevance and unbiblical teaching, cause people to question their need for church or God.
- Loss of Truth
Post Modern society teaches that there is no truth, so therefore a church cannot have the truth about God. Families are raising children to find their own truth, and not teaching them what Scripture says at all, and definitely not living it out for them. As a result, the next generation knows little to nothing about God.
As mentioned before, this are just some of the main causes, and VERY brief explanations of each of them. (Although I think I just found what my next 5 blogs might be about, each of these in more detail). The point is, God is no longer important to people. For most people, if God is in their life at all, he is on a back burner, as a form of fire insurance, just in case, and as a result, we have what we have.
What can be done? I’ve decided that I’ll spend the next 5 weeks addressing some of those things, but for now there are some things that we need to keep in mind. Don’t lose hope, this is not on us. This is God’s Church, not ours, He will protect it.
Matthew 16:18
18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
God can, and will preserve His Word, and His Kingdom.
Matthew 24:35
35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
Daniel 2:44
4 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever,
Elijah had a time when he thought he was the only one standing for God, yet God showed him that He had a remnant of 7000 that never bowed to Baal…
1 Kings 19:14-18
14 He said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 15 And the LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. 16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. 17 And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
Basically, God’s got this. Don’t get me wrong, He would like us to do our part, and we’ll talk about that over the next few weeks, but in the big picture, we need to worry about us, and let God be God.
Thank you for reading this, as always, I would encourage you to spend time in His Word, in prayer and in the fellowship of other believers. And if you haven’t visited already, I would encourage you to come visit our little church on the hill, it’s worth the drive.
Bro. Jason
Thank you so much for your insightful messages. I hope you know that you are valued and the work that you do is so important. The seeds that you plant are not in vain and will bring a worthy harvest for the Lord. May God bless you.