image from our dailybread101
Fairly recent research says America may have more self-declared Christians outside the church than in it. I get that, for a multitude of reasons, and level of commitment certainly is one. Loving Jesus can be nice yet undemanding. Church involvement takes loving Jesus to a more involved level. Jesus attracts people, sometimes churches do not. But I came across a stat that troubles me. George Barna’s research, written about in “Faith and Christianity” on March 30, 2017, went a bit deeper.
“Barna created a metric to capture… those who self-identify as Christian and who strongly agree that their religious faith is very important in their life, but are ‘dechurched’—that is, they have attended church in the past, but haven’t done so in the last six months (or more). These individuals have a sincere faith (89% have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important to their life today), but are notably absent from church.”
Barna doesn’t talk about those who gently love an undemanding Jesus, but who overwhelmingly have a vital personal faith. This group has increased from 7% of all Americans to 10% in 2017. I suspect it’s continued to grow.
Do the math. Our population is over 330 million, so at least 33 million people seriously love Jesus but want little to do with local churches. No, this post will not tell them they should love the church that Jesus died for. That the New Testament was written for. Instead, let’s look inward.
Why do they love Jesus and not the church? These 33 million have faith, they have attended church, but have left church. Not Jesus, but church. What have we created that seems contradictory to a vital faith?
I have more questions than answers, honestly. So let’s begin a discussion. What factors can lead genuine Christians to leave a local church and not reconnect? Let’s not get diverted on are they right to do so, or not. As we identify possible causes, then we can craft some strategies to remedy it.
Maybe some of you fit this category, and I would love to hear what lead you to that. Others may have been there, and returned to church. What brought you back?
Once more, let’s be accepting and gracious, and not judgmental. Let’s avoid specific politics, although feel free to graciously share how politics may have played a role. I do want “Unconventional” to be a safe place where people won’t feel attacked or insulted or diminished, so at my discretion, posts that don’t match that will be removed.
Kick Starting the Application
Are you in this group? What caused you to love Jesus, not church? What would it take you to change your mind? Is your church one that committed Christians could love? How could it be more loveable? Do you make your church more loveable?
PS here is the link for the article: https://www.barna.com/research/meet-love-jesus-not-church/