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RFM Newsletter
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Up from 17% in ’04, 22% of Americans say they never go to church
Americans focus on what they consider to be the most important matters; faith maturity is not one of them.
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Brother
Art Thompson
America’s
Unchurched America’s
unchurched are willing to hear what people have to say about
Christianity, but a majority also sees the church as a place
full of hypocrites, finds a LifeWay Research study.
·
72% of those interviewed think the church “is full of hypocrites.” Yet
71% said they believe Jesus “makes a positive difference in a
person’s life” and
·
78% would “be willing to listen” to someone who wanted to share what
they believed about Christianity. While 64% think “the Christian
religion is relevant and viable for today,”
·
72% of un-churched adults believe God, a higher or Supreme Being
actually exists. Only 48% agree there is only one God as
described in the Bible, and 61% believe the God of the Bible is
no different from gods or spiritual beings depicted in
non-Christian religions.
·
Up from 17% in ’04, 22% of Americans say they never go to church
(highest ever recorded by the
General Social Survey).
·
79% of unchurched Americans think Christianity today is more about
organized religion than about loving God and loving people;
·
86% believe they can have a good relationship with God without being
involved in church.
44% said Christians
“get on my nerves.” Yet, 89% of the unchurched have at least 1
close Christian friend. And while turned off by church, 78% are
willing to listen to someone who wants to talk about their
Christian beliefs. The number rose to 89% among adults ages
18-29. Additionally, 78% said they would enjoy an honest
conversation with a friend about religious and spiritual
beliefs, even if they disagreed. Only 28% think Christians they
know talk to them too much about their beliefs.
After reading the
above statistics you have to ask yourself, “What is going on in
America?” Check out
this article and you will get the answer. It ain’t pretty folks. We
are headed for a train wreck if we don’t get back to basics. As
the subject article states:
"Many of the same
people who claim that their faith is very important to them and
that they are absolutely committed to Christianity also say that
they face no spiritual challenges in life. Many other adults are
only vaguely aware of such challenges, and do not put much
energy into addressing them," explained the researcher.
"Americans focus on what they consider to be the most important
matters; faith maturity is not one of them. The dominant
spiritual change that we have seen - Americans becoming less
engaged in matters of faith - helps to explain the surging
secularization of our culture."
While we constantly
bemoan the removal of the Bible from the classroom and the Ten
Commandments from every public venue we seldom hear a call for
more spiritual training from parents or from the church for that
matter. Of course this
brings into focus another issue that being “family.”
We hear a lot about the need for a unit of a Dad, Mom and
Kids. But even in that setting what does that mean in today’s
culture? Mom and Dad both work, kids come home to an empty house
and meals are no longer a shared gathering at the kitchen table.
Fast food and fast lives do not make for a strong family and
certainly does nothing for the spiritual education of children.
We have to do
better! Government can’t and shouldn’t do it. The schools are
forbidden from doing it and sadly a great number of churches
today are more interested in filling pews than edifying their
flock. It has to start
with you and with me and our children and our grandchildren. If
we don’t yet another generation will be lost. It may seem
overwhelming but just remember the old adage “How do you eat and
elephant? One bite at a time.”
God Bless
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