Christianity is in a state of decline in the United States, according to “A Report Based on the American Religious Identification Survey 2008” 1 in 6 Americans presently claims to have “No Religion”. The percentage of American adults who identify themselves as Christians dropped from 86% in 1990 to 77% in 2001. This was an unprecedented drop of almost 1 percentage point per year. The percentage of American adults who identify themselves as Protestants dropped below 50% around the year 2005.
There have been many books and articles written, seminars and councils held, and programs implemented to address this issue yet we still are witnessing a decline in the number of people coming to Christ each year. . Yet we know God’s desire is that all would come to a saving knowledge of Christ, “If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world”. (John 12:47) So why isn’t Christianity growing? What are we missing?
I don’t think there is one clear answer that will solve the problem but as the old adage says, “The journey begins with the first step” and is continued one step at a time. One step I would suggest is to evaluate the words and terms we are using as well as the thoughts or ideas behind their use in advancing the Kingdom of God. I would say we can apply Richard M. Weaver’s claim “Ideas Have Consequences”, to one of the issues I believe is playing a role in the decline of Christianity. The idea I am referring to is the idea or thought behind our shift in the vocabulary we use when we speak of Christ, the church and Christianity. In this article I will address one particular word, “unchurched”.
It used to be a person who had not accepted Jesus as their Savoir was called a lost soul, unsaved, a person going to hell. These were people who could be family members, friends, co-workers, neighbors and with even informal acquaintances. As Christians we knew them and knew of their unsaved condition. We felt a sense of urgency to help them come to a knowledge and acceptance of our Savior, an urgency which led us to deep prayer for them to come to Christ. We felt the sadness of knowing that a loved one would not join us in heaven. We experienced the dread of knowing someone in our life was going to hell and it weighed heavy in our hearts. It was and still is the earnest desire of all who have accepted Jesus as their Savior that everyone would come to the saving knowledge of Christ.
Yet the urgency does not seem to be there today. Are we praying for the salvation of others as deeply as we did in the past? I hear few messages about Heaven which leads me to ask; “How often do we think of Heaven, and are we thinking of who will be there or not”? Hell’s existence has been questioned by some and dismissed by others, thus I believe weakening the dread of hell. So we don’t think of anyone spending eternity there. We no longer feel the sting of the fallen human condition without Christ and simply see those who do not have a relationship with Christ not as lost souls going to hell, but simply as unchurched? This one word I fear has caused an unintended shift in how we view the lost souls in our world.
The use of the word “unchurched” has now taken the place of “Lost Souls” or “unsaved”. Originally the idea behind the use of this term was to soften the harsh and condemning terms that would declare someone as; “a lost soul going to hell”. Christians wanted to find a way to reach the “lost souls” without repelling and/or condemning them with their vocabulary. In addition, unchurched captured the large part of our society which had at one time or another called themselves Christians and church goers but for some reason where not actively involved in a church. The Barna Group even developed a definition for unchurched; “an adult (18 or older) who has not attended a Christian church service within the past six months” excluding special services such as Easter, Christmas, weddings or funerals. However, the term unchurched has taken on a definition of its own.
If you were to do a Google search on the internet of the word unchurched you would get hundreds of hits with the majority extolling the wisdom, programs and books of organizations and/or individuals who will teach and guide you through the steps on how to communicate, and reach the unchurched with the main focus being; how to get the unchurched into your church. There is the shift. If we are not looking we miss it. Our Christian focus is no longer getting the gospel of Jesus Christ out into the world to reach the lost souls in our lives, but to get the unchurched into our churches.
We are spending millions of dollars and hours to move the unchurched into our churches but the statistics show it is not working in relationship to saving souls for God’s Kingdom. Pastors, Elders, Lay Leaders, volunteers and congregants are diligently working on developing programs, events, spectacular worship segments and declaring the wonderfulness of their children’s, youth, young adults programs. Subtly without our notice it seems this word unchurched has shifted the doors to Heaven. We now strive to bring the unchurched into our churches in the hopes that there they will find Christ and the way to Heaven; rather than personally bringing Christ to the lost, unsaved souls in an effort to introduce them to the only door to Heaven, Jesus Christ.
This was far from what was intended for the use of the word unchurched. I raise this issue as one way in which we can address the present trend of Christianity in our nation. God has asked us to dream for His Kingdom and pursue the vision He has given each of us. To do so we must develop the systems and strategies to achieve that vision. Then evaluate the systems and strategies we have put into work; for ideas have consequences.
