I read an article online from “Sound of Heaven” (https://soh.church/church-attendance-statistics/) that stated church attendance across the United States was declining as people shifted their belief perspectives from biblical to personal spirituality. According to the article, church membership numbers dropped as the age groups got younger. Following Generation X (1965-1980) (ages 60-45), interest in organized religion has declined significantly. Forty percent of Millennials (1996-81) (ages 44-29) have no church affiliation, but seventy-two percent of Generation Z (1997-2012) (ages 28-13) have doubts that God exists at all, with 18% claiming to be atheists or agnostics. (All statistics from https://www.churchtrac.com/articles/the-state-of-church-attendance-trends-and-statistics-2023)
No Interest in the Church
The Gen Z group grew up during a time when schools prohibited prayer while in session, Christian values came under attack, and broken homes became the norm rather than an exception. The majority probably know almost nothing about actual Bible teaching but think they know the message of the Bible based on what they heard in school, through social media, from secular friends, TV programs, movies, and music. Even if they attended an occasional church service, the message was likely to focus on how a biblical passage applied to a contemporary social issue. Rarely does a message from the pulpit convey the depth of information covered during a Sunday school class or Bible study. How could an individual who seldom attends Church hear about the creation of the world, the expulsion of Lucifer from Heaven, why Jesus needed to be a perfect sacrifice for sin, or that he’s coming back? Most Gen Zers don’t believe there is a devil or an actual hell. If they believe in an afterlife, they think everyone good goes there. Furthermore, they have heard from multiple respected authorities that there is more than one road that leads to heaven.
Religious Discrimination Increasing
In today’s world of “Woke,” it’s political suicide to be labeled a Christian, and therefore, discussions about faith do not openly occur. Thus, spreading the word about Christ at work is more difficult than ever before. Acknowledging Christian faith can result in the loss of consideration for a job, promotion, and other benefits. If you attend a secular college, you may not be invited to gatherings or granted access to career opportunities based on a belief that your opinions are narrow-minded or racist. Although the law prohibits such actions, employers and colleges know how to phrase justification statements for denials to show acceptable reasons for rejections. Therefore, a person has no incentive for sharing the knowledge of their faith and many reasons to remain quiet.
Want Higher Power but Not Commitment
Though organized religion is undesired, the search for a “higher power” is pursued. In essence, it seems that Gen Z doesn’t want the restrictions they believe would be imposed by a commitment to God, but they want the comfort of a connection to a higher power. They have a desire to find a purpose that will lead to a more meaningful existence through that connection. In their opinion, organized religion does not allow them the opportunity to find their way to inner peace. By practicing mindfulness, yoga, and meditation, they believe they can achieve greater self-awareness, as well as a deeper connection to their understanding of who God is.
Some of the other reasons given for the decline in Church attendance include a loss of confidence in church ethical standards following years of scandals and controversies. Though the headlines are not as frequent now, not too many years ago, there were frequent mentions of television evangelists caught in serious scandals that cast doubt on who could be trusted to preach the gospel and where it was safe to donate to charity. Those scandals seemed to mark the beginning of the decline in trust in the Church.
Deception – Lies
Satan uses three primary ways of undermining the Church: deception, division, and destruction. The scandals indeed employed the tactic of deception because each of them involved some form of deception. Satan influenced the hearts of those individuals with greed for power or money and took their eyes off God, destroying their ministry and tainting the Church’s reputation. Non-believers closely watch believers in leadership positions to see what they will do when they are in positions of authority and temptation arises. Their actions have terrible repercussions when they fall under Satan’s influence publicly, and it takes years for the Church to recover from the negative impact, which is why behavioral standards for leadership positions, especially in Church roles, are higher. Even Sunday school teachers and Vacation Bible School helpers are viewed as leaders and must be mindful of what they say and do in public, as they represent God to those who don’t know Him.
Division – Politics Is Tearing Us Apart
I doubt that anyone could argue that Satan’s most potent tool currently in use is division. Our country is more divided today than it has been at any time since the Civil War. Families cannot eat holiday meals today. Church members stand during a sermon and exit their pews when they disagree with a message based on the wording used by the minister on a sensitive topic. During a sermon, because they disagree with the message. God’s word is the same today as it was yesterday. It remains unchanged, regardless of which political party is in office. However, some individuals become offended by messages supported by scripture that differ from those held by their political party. I will concede that sometimes it’s the way the message is delivered that creates the problem. I have heard messages delivered with a “rub your nose in it” tone, which is also inappropriate. Both are wrong.
What Would Jesus Do?
If Jesus were here, I think he would tell us to look at the heart of the message. He would not ask us to change the context. He would still not approve of homosexuality, rape, incest, and fornication because he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for those offenses; however, notice I listed more than just homosexuality. He does not approve of any of those acts, but he loves those people, and if he had a gay couple attending his synagogue, he would welcome them in the same way we welcome a couple who live together. He loves the sinner but hates the sin. So should we. We should not compromise on hating the sin; we can’t approve of it, but we should never give up loving the sinner. Most importantly, we cannot let Satan divide us and win.
Destruction – No More Church
Finally, Satan’s last tactic is destruction. During tribulation, he will destroy the Church when he establishes a one-world religion that worships only him. He thinks the destruction of the earthly Church will be his final, most significant victory, but we know better. We still win when Jesus comes back and destroys Satan and his followers. Our side wins. However, to be part of the WE, a person must be a committed follower of Jesus.
Do Let Them Die a Non-Believer
No one can be part of the winning side and go to heaven without first accepting Christ as their Savior. That means more than just believing he’s the Son of God. It means following in his ways. Satan knows he is the Son of God, and he hates him. He’s doing everything in his power to keep non-believers hating him, too. He’s probably trying to keep most people from caring about Jesus because that approach is even more effective. If someone doesn’t care, he can ignore them, and they will sit back, do nothing about salvation, die, and go to hell without Satan having to spend any energy on them at all. Let’s not let that happen to them.
