The church in the USA is experiencing a rapid decline – much like the Church has experienced in the rest of the Western World.
In an article from December 2024 called “Churches fight to stay open as attendance dwindles,” Steve Osunsami and Sean Keane write: “In the late 1940s, nearly 80% of Americans said they belonged to a church, synagogue, mosque, or temple, according to Gallup. Today, just 45% say the same, the analytics company noted, and only 32% say that they worship God in a house of prayer once a week. In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, America was losing as many as 1,000 churches a year.”
In January 2024, the Pew Research Center reported on the fastest growing religious group in the United States – the “nones.” These are people who indicate they have no religious affiliation. They write: “Today, about 28% of U.S. adults are religiously unaffiliated, describing themselves as atheists, agnostics or “nothing in particular” when asked about their religion…. Most “nones” say they were raised in a religion, usually Christianity. Yet today, they tend to be disconnected from religious institutions…. About half say spirituality is very important in their lives or say they think of themselves as spiritual.”
Of those who do attend a church that practices orthodox biblical Christianity, not all who participate have a biblical worldview. Their Christian faith is often a part of their life rather than the guiding force of all that they do.
The Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University reported on the work of the Barna Group writing: “The first national study of Americans’ worldview since the COVID-19 lockdowns shows that the incidence of biblical worldview has fallen to a mere 4%… Within the born-again population (just 33% of the adult population), a shockingly small proportion (13%) hold a biblical worldview.” This means many people who call themselves followers of Jesus are not actually trying to live and think like Jesus or do not fully understand what that means.
To dive into a biblical worldview a bit more, here are the beliefs that followers of Jesus with a biblical worldview hold according to the Barna research group:
There are absolute moral truths that apply to all people, regardless of their circumstances.
Moral truth is defined by the teachings of the Bible.
Jesus Christ lived a sinless life as described in the Bible.
Jesus is central to your faith and worldview.
God is the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe.
God continues to rule over the universe today.
Salvation is a gift from God and cannot be earned through human efforts.
Satan is a real spiritual being, as described in the Bible.
Christians have a responsibility to share their faith in Christ with other people and look for ways to do so in wise ways.
The Bible is accurate in all of its teachings.
When we have a biblical worldview, we are seeking to grow to think and act more like Jesus. We believe God is calling all who follow Jesus to represent Him well in how we think and how we live. In doing so, we will help those without faith find faith, and we will bring more of heaven to earth.
The Time is Now
The last ten years have been incredibly difficult for pastors. With political divisiveness at an all time high, we were then faced with a global pandemic which left some churches meeting online for almost two years and many churches seeing regular attendance plummet.
Now is the opportunity to start afresh.
I am reminded of the late great NFL coach Vince Lombardi who started every training camp with the same speech year after year saying to the players while holding a pigskin: “Men, this is a football.” He wanted to start with the basics and even remind them of the love of the game they developed when they first picked up the sport as children.
When we look at the last words of Jesus to His disciples and see how they lived it out, we can go back to the basics and rediscover our calling.
We are to make disciples who make disciples.
Too often we make it too complicated and over-engineer things.
Before ascending to the right hand of the Father, Jesus said to His disciples:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” – Jesus, Matthew 28:18-20
We see that after the Spirit came to empower the early church, they began to live this out in a beautiful way.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. – Acts 2:42-47
Now, we all know the early church struggled with heresy, immorality, and conflict. That becomes obvious in the letters from the apostle Paul to the churches he started and the leaders he invested in. That is because ministry is messy because people are messy.
How beautiful it is though when the local church simplifies back on our mission of reaching people who grow in their faith and reach people who grow in their faith who reach people.
As we help our people find faith and bring more of heaven to earth, we realign with God’s invitation to us.
