What Will Stop The Outflow of Church Members?
The United States is changing in many ways, and among the most notable are the religious shifts of the last two or so decades that have transformed the nation’s cultural DNA.
America has experienced three periods of exponential religious growth: the First Great Awakening (1730s-1740s), the Second Great Awakening (1790-1840), and the four decades after the Civil War (1870-1906). However, in the past 25 years, the American church has undergone significant loss; people are leaving religious communities across the lines of socio-economic class, race, gender, age, and sexuality. This “dechurching”—a term coined by coauthors Jim Davis and Michael Graham (with Ryan P. Burge) in The Great Dechurching—is equal in number to all the believers who joined the church during the First Great Awakening, the Second Great Awakening, and the Billy Graham crusades of the late 20th and 21st centuries combined.
So, why are so many people leaving the church? Davis, Graham, and Burge look for answers and propose practical solutions to counter the “Great Dechurching.”
For years now, the church has created communities centered on politics or culture instead of on Christ, the authors observe. When churchgoers bond over political candidates, causes, and views, Christianity risks devolving into a tribalistic enclave that extends love and acceptance to some, not all, who enter. According to surveys, many left the church at a young age because of its unwillingness to listen to differing viewpoints, its inactivity in surrounding communities, and a lack of meaningful relationships among congregants. However many “dechurched” people still crave community.
Christianity today struggles to return to the apostolic era when the community experienced considerable growth. Despite differing backgrounds (i.e., Samaritans vs. the Jews), the early church united through faith in Jesus and his teachings, loved each other in word and deed, and furthered the work Christ started. So, what is the difference between then and now?
America is heavily influenced by its predominant religion, Christianity. Many churches let the influence of Christian culture do the work of discipleship while taking a backseat in genuinely spreading God’s love in a lifestyle of discipleship. This evangelistic laziness is problematic since Christian ethos has become extremely nationalistic, idolizing political leaders and ideals instead of Jesus and what he stood for. The global perception of Christianity is no longer separate from politics and our biases now inform our religious beliefs. Instead of living in accordance with the image of God, Christians often create their own image of God based on what they value more than him. Unfortunately, just as many did in the time of Jesus and shortly thereafter, the gift of the gospel is cast aside in exchange for a more convenient and seemingly relevant ideology.
Read Next: “The Great Dechurching: A Worthwhile Read for Christians of Any Label“
To the Jewish people in the biblical narrative, a savior who would conquer the Romans by force (and presumably help to secure status, wealth, and national prosperity) was more desirable than the gospel message. This expectation created a false sense of security and a distorted perception of victory, freedom, and wealth. The modern church is plagued with the same problem. Many believers have grandiose views of what God can do for them, whether blessing them with riches or appointing politicians who will further their objectives. What happened to setting our minds on things above? Why do we neglect living as an example of love and righteousness for all people?
Righteousness is best expressed in justice; the Hebrew word for righteousness, transliterated as tsedaqah, means right-doing marked by honesty and merit. As God’s people, we are called to be righteous in a manner that “pleads for the orphan and the widow,” not in a way that is self-serving. We are called to speak up for the voiceless, advocate for others, and remain submitted to God’s will and not our own. However, many churches see righteousness as a checklist rather than a lifestyle; instead of loving out of desire, we love out of perceived obligations. We do righteousness on our own terms. Did we go on our yearly, international mission trip? Did we have our holiday clothing drive? Did we check off our charity event for this quarter? These events seem noble but are often done from the perspective of the church providing what they think their communities need instead of truly cultivating connections with community residents.
True ministry is developed by engaging with those around us and supporting people wherever they find themselves—emotionally, spiritually, physically, financially, etc. For so many years, the church has been very transactional with those inside and outside its walls. People are not mere numbers in a congregation, but children of God with struggles and strengths that should be recognized, not monetized on. The Church has been made into a business and has ceased being a movement, as the early church was. As a faith community, we need to recognize God in others, realizing they, too, were made in his image. The people in whom we minister to should not only be assisted but empowered and enabled to operate in their gifts.
Jesus did not have elaborate services in attempts to attract people and the early church did not prioritize building megachurches. The perspective of religious leaders is no longer, “What can I give for the cause?” but “What can I get, what can I gain from the cause?” This perception of church from a leadership standpoint also infects those who attend. Culturally, the church has become extremely individualistic and consumeristic. Church services used to be held in homes, they were personal and people were discipled based on their holistic needs. The early church was a close knit community, not scattered, disconnected, and divided.
Our perception of community versus the biblical perception of community is disconnected. Our view is distorted by shared ideology while biblical insight on it is founded on reciprocal love and mutuality in the midst of differences. This means the early church community grew not because of shared beliefs, but rather, the willingness to connect in spite of dissimilarities. While faith in Jesus was the common goal, there was a variety of cultural disparities among the people (i.e., circumcised vs. uncircumcised, eating food offered to idols, etc.). Despite any differences, the apostles found ways to connect diverse groups of people to create a cohesive community of Christ.
We can do the same thing today by not merely converting people but leading with love, fostering a desire to connect, practicing patience, and having a listening ear for those who come from different backgrounds. We must seek to reach common ground, become open to other ideas, have a working knowledge and conviction of personal beliefs, and above all, pray that God will transform our hearts so our worldview will not be tainted by anything that would attempt to replace authentic Christlikeness. Perhaps this will help us reverse the “Great Dechurching.”
