About 82% of Americans in 2007 told Gallup interviewers that they identified with a Christian religion. That includes 51% who said they were Protestant, 5% who were "other Christian," 23% Roman Catholic, and 3% who named another Christian faith, including 2% Mormon.
Sixty-two percent of Americans in Gallup's latest poll, conducted in December, say they are members of a "church or synagogue," a question Gallup has been asking since 1937.
Based on the responses to this question, about a third say they attend once a week, with another 12% saying they attend almost every week. This means that about 44% of Americans report what can be called frequent church attendance -- almost every week or every week.
This year, 56% of Americans have said religion is very important. Only 17% say religion is not very important.This year, 56% of Americans have said religion is very important. Only 17% say religion is not very important.
To summarize, more than 8 in 10 Americans identify with a religion and 8 out of 10 say that religion is at least fairly important in their daily lives; more than 8 out of 10 say they attend church at least "seldom"; and again more than 8 out of 10 identify with a Christian religion.
Theologians and other intellectuals often tell us that we are living in a post-Christian nation. But these statistics indicate otherwise. Read the final paragraph above once again. Roughly eighty percent of Americans identify themselves as Christians, attend church occasionally, and consider religion important.
As a pastor, I know that there is a vast gulf between people's beliefs and behaviors. If eighty percent of Santa Barbara (where I live) is Christian, how come I don't see those people in church more often? And why do so many Santa Barbarans engage in behaviors that are manifestly unChristlike? You can ask the same questions in your city too, I'm sure.
In my opinion, statistics such as these illustrate the point made in the most recent issueof Enrichment that we are experiencing a crisis of discipleship, not only in the Assemblies of God, but also in the nation as a whole.
- How do we distinguish authentic Christianity from cultural Christianity?
- How do we evangelize people who are already nominally Christian?
- How do we disciple people who consider themselves Christian but don't attend church or practice the ethical standards of the faith?
9 comments:
I wish those calling themselves Christian here in Santa Barbara would actually follow the words of Christ.
Instead of complaining about the homeless perhaps finding them homes and showing compassion.
Instead of building more unaffordable houses, driving out working people, perhaps dropping the NIMBY attitudes and building homes that people can afford.
Instead of just reading about the plight of the FoodBank running low on food and money, perhaps they should share.
Instead of allowing people to build giagantic homes that go unused most of the year, they should require that community needs for housing and shelter be at the top of the agenda.
Unfortunately, Christianity seems to have fallen into being just a commodity. Something to "buy" into instead of truly believing...hense the lack of bodies in church. It would actully mean people would have to "inconvenience" themselves to sit through a sermon that they truly don't believe in. They "bought" the Christianity "logo", along with the gold and diamond crosses, but that only superficially "defines" who they are, like a pass into a private club.
America is NOT a Christian nation. It never was. The Founding Fathers were actually Masons...Theists.It should never be. America should be the land of opportunity and freedom in which ever faith one practices or believes in.
Re: Polls, unless you know exactly who was asked, how they were asked, who asked them, where they were asked and the exact question and the tone in which they were asked, should you believe polls. They can skew to anything that you wish them to be.
I think that the lack of "church going" is being experienced with not just Christianity, but with a broad scope of faiths in our modern day society. Religions teach morals and ethics. Our society teaches win or lose. The later lessons prevail.
Namaste.
Anonymous:
Greetings from a fellow Santa Barbaran! Email me sometime (george@georgepwood.com), and I'll take you to lunch. I've found that church-going Santa Barbarans are generally more engaged than Santa Barbarans generally, although some (me included) would take issue with some of the political solutions you've proposed. God bless!
George
I think the only way we can determine authentic Christianity from cultural Christianity is by looking at the fruit of one's life (hey, at least I'm on board with Jesus' method!). There is a danger associated with this that we have to watch out for.
If we look at someone's life and see they are not producing the fruit that one would expect a Christian to produce (fruits of the Spirit are as good a candidate as any), it is easy to just say "We should get this person to start producing fruit." From there we may encourage them to start doing things Christians should be doing, but they are doing them for the wrong reasons. Instead of becoming the type of person that naturally lives the life of a Christian, he is the same sinful person that just acts like a Christian. In other words, we have people that don't like the poor and hate their enemies but grudgingly give to the food bank or to shelter projects. We need to figure out how to help people develop their souls in such a way that they naturally respond with love and compassion to everyone they come into contact with (I think this what the "light burden" is all about).
I earnestly recommend JP Moreland's Kingdom Triangle and Dallas Willard's The Divine Conspiracy. Both these books, in different ways, address some of the questions you ask.
BTW, I was very excited (for the first time in awhile) about the recent issue of Enrichment. I'm not on staff at a church, but there is still a lot of good material that I can make use of with the people I come into contact with regularly.
I just thought about something I should've added to my previous comment. Sometimes in order to develop the natural tendency to act a certain way, one needs to just start doing it even though they hate it. My point is that that should just be a step on the way to a more developed soul that enjoys those actions. Many times it's easy to stop pushing people because they grudgingly showed up at a neighborhood cleanup outreach every once in awhile.
Paul F. said:
"Sometimes in order to develop the natural tendency to act a certain way, one needs to just start doing it even though they hate it."
As one of my former pastors used to always say, it's easier to act your way into a feeling than to feel your way into an action.
I see many churches trying to address this by disengaging from the word "Christian" which has come to mean cultural Christian and replace it with more distinct terms like "Christ-follower" or just plain ol' "Disciple of Christ".
I see a major disconnect in the pews between what a biblical Christian is and what they define as a Christian. Most unknowlingly subscribe to the cultural/religious definition simply because its easier. I saw a t-shirt the other day that made me sick. It was one of those Christian shirts that steals commercial ideas from secular media and reforms them. It had one of those red buttons like the Staples commercials with Jesus' name on it. As if we can press it and hear "That was easy."
Deep down, this is what many believe. Some of it is because of our teaching, too. This is why I have some qualms with the practical implications of solely reformed definitions of salvation. Where we focus exclusively on the soul and only describe Jesus' death for our personal sins and in a forensic manner. These things are true, but obviously not the whole picture.
I agree with Paul F that books like Moreland's Kingdom Triangle and Willard's Divine Conspiracy are helpful. I also like NT Wright's angle on the Kingdom of God.
It seems that a re-emphasis on the the present Kingdom of God and the evils that we have been empowered to fight and overthrow are necessary to assist in creating a need for discipleship. If salvation merely means saying a prayer (which most preachers often profess), then most will find no pragmatic purpose for growing any further. We need a reason to grow. Well, at least people like me do.
In addition to the books Paul and Joel recommend, I'd add "The Great Omission" by Dallas Willard, "The Training of the Twelve" by A. B. Bruce, any number of books by Bill Hull, and "The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience" and "Good News and Good Works" by Ron Sider. If memory serves, Eddie Gibbs once wrote a book about nominal Christianity titled, appropriately enough, "In Name Only." Hey, we could start referring to nominal Christians as "CHINOs"--Christians in name only.
Another great book, but its kind of hard to find because I think its out of print is "The Unshakable Kingdom and the Unchanging Person" by E. Stanley Jones.
Anybody else look at the cover of the latest Enrichment and wonder why the guy on there doesn't take his golf club and call a friend and go play some golf?
Some of the most fruitful discipleship time I've experienced was while we were playing disc golf.
I believe that it is ridiculous for us to judge members of other church traditions on their level of spirituality based on their involvement in the work of the ministry. Or to judge them on intangibles like smoking, drinking, etc. High churches and their members tend to be much more proactive in ministries to the poor, and other issues of urban revitalization than our churches. There is also something previous about a worship liturgy that we left long ago. Just because you don't like formal communions, responsive readings, robe wearing, recitation, etc. doesn't mean that they are no worshipful and valuable to others.
I grew up AG and heard it all my life that people from other churches, for instance the Catholics, just go to church out of ritual and because its what you do. Well doesn't it say something about an individual and his/her spirituality that they are committed to being around a body of believers. And are we so different? How many of our young people do not enjoy our "adult" worship services at all, and come because they are made to by their parents? What about adults who go because thats where they have always gone. I have no problem believing that 82% of the people in our nation identify themselves as Christians, and I also have no problem believing that most of them are. Not all Christians vote republican, speak in tongues, reject tradition, and live in the south. They are Evangelical Lutherans that live New York, and Catholics who live in Seattle, Presbyterians in Chicago. They are our Christian brothers and they are following Jesus the best way they know how, working out their own salvation with fear and trembling, and maybe that is something we need to start doing. Maybe we need to start approaching our salvific assurances with much more reverence and humility. Sorry about the rant, but I am an ecumenist at heart.
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