A recent article from the Pew Research Center outlines a survey that suggests there's a downward trend in the United States of those who are religiously affiliated. According to the survey over the last ten years there's been a steady decline in the number of people who consider themselves to be Christian, attend any type of church or pray with any regularity. Many of the pastors I listen to in Colorado on Grace FM will say the church is under attack, that the government is trying to shut them down and believers are being oppressed. I don't doubt that there are external forces warring against the church. Certainly Satan is at work trying to destroy all that God has created. But let's not be deluded into thinking that there's some nameless, faceless phantom out there that is trying to destroy us. The enemy of the church is far closer to home than we realize.
I think for some they'll look at those survey results and say, "See? We're under attack by people who hate Christians!" There may be some truth to that but for me, when I look at those results, I can't help but think we, as Christians, are responsible for much of that decline. Sure, there are outside forces pitted against the church today but I believe our problems are just as much like a cancer as they are an external affliction. It's a sure sign of a lack of humility to assume all the problems facing the church reside outside of the church. During one of his sermons, a local pastor said that a recent survey identified church pastors among some of the most untrustworthy, along with lawyers and politicians. I personally haven't seen this survey but I'll take him at his word. He saw this as another attack from some outside forces trying to bring down the church. I find it doubtful that a reputable organization would just create a bogus survey just to attack someone or something, but who knows, I'm sure it's possible. But surveys typically call out the perceptions of a slice of the population on any given topic. My question is, if a portion of the US population consider pastors to be untrustworthy, what makes them feel that way? Wouldn't a self-assessment be in order? You can't refute survey results unless you have some information that defends your position. The "nuh uh" defense will never win an argument.
So let me get the ball rolling with this self-assessment. Christians will recall that Jesus gave us two commandments. Just two. The first, love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. The second, love your neighbor as yourself. Sounds simple enough. Not like the ten found in the Old Testament. Ah, but that's the catch. Those Ten Commandments are actually rolled into those two commandments Jesus gave us. But I digress. So now we have to ask ourselves, are we living up to those two commandments? If we're being honest with ourselves the answer should be a resounding "NO!" Speaking for myself, I fail at both on an epic scale. Sure, some days are better than others but it's a constant struggle to fully live by those commands. Now some of you might say I'm off base, that for the most part you do a pretty good job living up to those two commandments but consider this - Does the desire for that promotion supersede our calling to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength? Does our desire to win an argument take precedence over the command to love our neighbors as ourselves? When we speak, are we doing so in a loving manner or are we abrasive because, well, "that's just how I am"? As we plan our lives are we seeking God's endorsement or His guidance? If it came to being accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict us? Remember, just calling ourselves "Christians" doesn't necessarily mean we are one. I can say I'm a loving husband but if I beat my wife then all evidence would point to the contrary. If you say you're a loving Christian but you blow up your Facebook and Twitter feed with hate speech towards a certain person or group of people, then again, all evidence points to the contrary.
The decline in the Christian church can be summed up in a single word, hypocrisy. Sure, I've heard pastors say in response to that claim that we Christians are flawed and are prone to sin and I certainly agree. But we can't stop there. We can't just sit there and say yes, we're hypocritical at times and we sin occasionally, as if that's enough for the casual observer to simply overlook. We have to recognize that this hypocrisy is the greatest indictment against the church and we are all complicit. We can't just shirk this off as if this is some simple little indiscretion that can be repented over. We need to own the ramifications coming from this truth. If we only publicly call out things like so-called government overreach, supposed CRT in grade schools and the like and not say a word about the vile behavior of public figures who proudly claim to be Christian, then WE are the perpetuators of this hypocrisy. If we publicly speak out against abortion but go radio silent over the oppression and marginalization of an ever increasing population by big business and corrupt politicians, then we are contributing to this hypocrisy. If we want to be in the habit of commenting on secular issues then we need to be ready to comment on all of them. Human reasoning will deduce that anything we don't condemn we therefore condone. So if we aren't speaking out against, say, the bad behavior of so-called Christians then we are actually condoning it. For example, congressperson from Rifle, Colorado is fond of calling herself a "good Christian mother" but spends the majority of her time on social media spewing hate speech. Much is said in church over the oppressive demands of having to wear a mask but not a word about the so-called Christian who promotes hate. This is just one example of the hypocrisy that has lead many to say, "if that's Christianity, I want nothing to do with it."
As long as we Christians continue to be conditioned to believe that the threat to the church only comes from outside the church, then the more we will continue to contribute to its demise. As long as we continue to believe we have no ownership in this problem, it'll never be resolved. Perhaps if we focused more on Jesus, more on how we should love God and love our neighbors and behave as if we do, then we may see an uptick in those survey numbers. Perhaps we need to spend less time making people afraid of the world and encourage them to stand strong in the power of the Holy Spirit. There is power in the Word and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. If we are truly in the Word then nothing in this crazy world should scare or concern us. If we are truly in the Word then we'll know that all these things MUST come to pass so railing against them is to rail against the Word. But if we truly put our trust and faith in Jesus and devote ourselves to loving God and loving our neighbors as ourselves, are we not doing God's will for us?
Link to the Pew Research Center article:
https://www.pewforum.org/2021/12/14/about-three-in-ten-u-s-adults-are-now-religiously-unaffiliated/?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter
