Recent statistics and numbers show an alarming change in the number of self-identified Christians in America in the years ahead.
My plans this week got upended. I thought I had a great email set up to send out… but then something happened. Now it’s on the back burner and I have to share about a new thing!
In my Google feed this week I got an Article from the Pew Research Center. Rabbit trail: I kind of like the folks at Pew… Any organization named after the old timey seats in church has to be good, right? And when I was in college (also old timey), I worked for a couple years on a computer project funded by a Pew grant. So seeing the Pew name on something makes me smile.
And… we’re back. Anyway, this article was about Christianity in America. The folks at Pew were trying to do some experiments to see if they could trend what is happening with the faith. Let me lay some of the facts on you…
According to the Pew Research Center, in 2020 64% of the people in America (including children) identified as Christian.
To be honest, I was surprised, the number was so high.
There’s a key distinction the language here… “Identified as Christian” really means they checked the “Christian” box on a survey when asked if they had any religious affiliation or identification. That has nothing to do with the actual faith of the person.
I think our pastors would all agree that 64&% of our city populations are not turning out for church on any given weekend. And I would go farther to say that 64% of Americans have not been to church even once in the last 3 months.
I’m convinced that a shockingly small percentage of the people who identify as Christians have a saving faith.
Witness the words of our Lord in Matthew 7:21-23
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
We’ll never know the stats on who truly believes. That knowledge is reserved for God alone. On the day of Judgment, however, all will be made clear.
Pew went on to say that of the remaining 36% of Americans, 30% identify as “No religious affiliation.” In the article they were called the Nones.
Yes, doing the math, adherents of other religions totaled only 6%.
What is also interesting is the change rate. Or TERRIFYING if you have kids.
According to the Center, 31% of people raised as Christian change to the unaffiliated group between the ages of 15 and 29. After those ages the rate drops to about 7% – for a total switch to the Nones of 38%.
What I find interesting is that the study reveals that 21% of the people who grew up as Nones switch to identify as Christians during their adulthood. #evangelism!
But the sad thing of math is that 38% of 64 = 24% of the population moves from Christianity to the Nones while 21% of 30% = 6 % of the population moves from the Nones to Christian identifying.
The only takeaway is that Christianity is on the decline in America. More people are leaving than converting. That ultimately means the total number is declining.
Pew ran some simulations to see what would happen if we extended these trends (or variations) forward into the future for 50 years.
Holding the math constant and just using the numbers from above, by 2070 they predict that Christian identifying people would be at 46% of the population (no longer a majority) while the Nones would be at 41% – very very close.
Under other assumptions – such as rising disaffiliation (based on the kinds of numbers that we see in Europe and other “post christian” societies), the numbers are even more shocking. Christian identifying people come out to 39% of the population while the Nones eclipse that to 48%.
How does this make you feel?
Do those changing numbers cause you consternation or concern?
I will go back to what I said in last week’s email. Our citizenship is not of this world (Philippians 3:20). We need to be grounded and anchored in the things which are rock-solid. Jesus. The Gospel.
People around us will do what they will. We can’t change that. But we hold fast to Jesus, the author and perfecter (completer) of our faith.
My faith is strong. It is bigger and stronger than any numbers that can be thrown at it. So I am not concerned. But this does spur me to think about my neighbor and how they see my testimony.
The fields are white unto harvest. Pray therefore, the Lord of the harvest that He would send His laborers into the harvest…
Expectantly,
Dennis
