Declining Interest

In recent years, there has been constant reporting that church membership is declining. Americans as a group are increasingly moving away from the established church. Gallup reported in 2020 that

“Americans' membership in houses of worship continued to decline last year, dropping below 50% for the first time in Gallup's eight-decade trend. In 2020, 47% of Americans said they belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque, down from 50% in 2018 and 70% in 1999.”

This decline was linked to a decrease in religious affiliation and appeared to have a strong relationship to the individual’s generational group. The Gallup article shared,

“Church membership is strongly correlated with age, as 66% of traditionalists -- U.S. adults born before 1946 -- belong to a church, compared with 58% of baby boomers, 50% of those in Generation X and 36% of millennials. The limited data Gallup has on church membership among the portion of Generation Z that has reached adulthood are so far showing church membership rates similar to those for millennials.”

 - Jeffrey Jones, Gallup, "U.S. Church Membership Falls Below Majority for First Time", March 29, 2021, https://news.gallup.com/poll/341963/church-membership-falls-below-majority-first-time.aspx

These results beg the question, Why is being part of the community of God becoming less meaningful to the generations that are emerging? Could it be that prior generations failed to live a lifestyle that demonstrated the value of devotion to God? If so, what can a believer do today to change that perception?

Lack of Unity

Sadly, those outside the church family hear more about how different bodies of believers disagree with each other rather than seeing a united body of believers who agree about the Word of God and how it applies to their lives and actions.

The changing perceptions of the American culture have raised debates within the church. As God’s people struggle to understand how to apply God’s Word to contemporary issues, the secular media reports in a biased manner against any position that opposes the culture’s agenda. God’s Word is frequently seen to be in opposition to the culture’s point of view.

Jesus encouraged His disciples to study God’s Word and obey all that He commanded. This clear directive should bring God’s people together as they serve Him in a unified manner, yet believers have often found themselves at odds with other groups of believers over matters not clearly defined by Scripture.

This lack of unity undermines the creditability of Christ-followers as non-believers can point to John 13:25, which says

“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

and see the divisions that exist between believers.

Uncertain Purpose

Jesus provided clarity regarding what He wanted His disciples to do as they served Him in Matthew 28:18-20, commonly referred to as the “Great Commission.” Jesus said,

“18. . . All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Baptisms have traditionally been a measure of the church’s effectiveness in reaching others with the good news of Jesus. Because social pressure to “give your life to Jesus” is no longer part of our culture, baptism rates are heavily dependent on the actions of individual believers to share their faith. And as each successive generation loses this focus, baptism numbers can be expected to decline.

The largest evangelical denomination in America, the Southern Baptist Convention, has reported a decline in the number of baptisms in its churches for the past ten consecutive years. While a decline in baptisms was to be expected in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ten-year trend is telling.

- Kate Sheellnutt, Christianity Today, “Southern Baptist Church Planting Up in 2020, But Baptisms Plunge by Half”, May 21, 2021, https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2021/may/southern-baptist-decline-covid-annual-church-profile-sbc.html

Each year of decline indicates that fewer people are being saved from the consequences of having no relationship with Jesus.

Amazingly, Lifeway Research reported

. . . 65% of Protestant pastors say they are satisfied with the state of discipleship in their church, yet 78% said there was room for improvement.

- Aaron Earls, “5 Steps to Lead During Chaotic Times” , January 8, 2021, https://lifewayresearch.com/2021/01/08/5-steps-to-lead-during-chaotic-times/

If the majority of church leaders believe discipleship is satisfactory, but our results are declining, we should seriously consider the criteria by which we measure our disciple-making efforts.