By Larry Barker, VP of Church Strategy and Training

There certainly are several cultural barriers here in the United States, and the trends we are observing right now point towards the reality of spiritual darkness increasing and progressively getting worse, not better. That is not intended to cause us to wave a white flag of surrender but instead to understand the depth of the conflict and the need for prayer in the midst of spiritual warfare. The fastest growing demographic in the United States is the “nones.” These are those who choose no religious affiliation at all. 

They have a definitive resistance towards any type of organized religion. Several years ago, Lifeway Research said this about the rise of the religious nones: “Millennials [those born between 1980 and 2000] represent the first generation in history where a majority had no religious or church background.” The Millennials were saying they were not against Jesus but they did not want to be part of an organized church. In 1950 church attendance was at an all-time high but now it is at an all-time low of less than 50%.

Thom Rainer recently wrote, “Nearly seven out of ten (69%, Cultural Research Center) of American adults self-identify as a Christian. With an adult population (18 years and older) of 259 million (census.gov), that means there are 179 million people in the U.S. who self-identify as a Christian. 179 million. That’s a lot of people.” This group, Rainer says, is composed of up to 60% being what he calls “CHRINOs” (CHRistian In Name Only). The complacency and complexity of today’s culture will require much prayer for God’s direction in reaching people with the gospel. 

The complacency is not only in the culture but it can be seen in the church as well. Recent surveys point to the radical discrepancies between what church members say they believe and what they actually do. Who does not believe prayer is important? And yet the average focused prayer time is only two minutes a day. Most agree that we should give back to the Lord and yet only 2.4% of church membership does. We talk, teach, and preach the importance of discipleship and yet less than 1% of church members say they were ever intentionally discipled. 

We say we believe in evangelism but when church members were asked how many times they had “shared with someone how to become a Christian, 78% say zero.” The reality is that many churches have become even more inwardly focused since COVID. That time caused us to make changes and give up some “preferences” that we were not ready to turn loose of. Now our sanctuary has become more of a sanctuary where we primarily look forward to hanging out with people who have the same preferences, believe what we believe, and think like we think. Actually, we are holding on to our preferences tighter than ever.

Have we fallen asleep to the Great Commission and the purpose for which our church exists? You may have a good group of people coming “in” for services and other activities but are you as committed to going “out” on mission? Dave Harvey in Stronger Together states, “But a local church cannot be truly healthy when a heart for mission is conspicuously absent and the fruit of this omission is celebrated as a strength.” Maybe you wonder where to start and how to get back on mission. Begin with prayer! It is amazing to see that a praying church becomes a caring church and a caring church becomes a going church.