At a recent God’s Call event our presenter shared information about the ongoing decline of Christianity. It was supported from an article in Patheos—Is Christianity Declining in Numbers by Alonzo Gaskill PH.D. This article shares the three reasons why, yes, indeed, Christianity is in decline.
First, fertility rates are sharply declining. People simply are not having as many children. And for many of our communities in the Susquehanna Conference, those who are having children often have to leave the area in order to find work. There is not much we can do about that.
Second, evangelism is not widely practiced by institutional churches in the United States and the average Christian is not comfortable speaking openly about their faith or living it in very public ways.
And third, some people outside Christianity and many former practicing Christians find the faith (and church) to be unattractive and irrelevant. One point is often made that Christians seldom live the teachings of Jesus. Fortunately, there is something we can do about these second two reasons – and by “we” I am speaking to every person who considers themselves Christian and attends a local congregation. By the way, the information we glean from Mission Insite Ministry Priority reports verifies these two statements in our communities and around our churches.
Evangelism is a really scary word! Does it conjure images of standing on street corners with a bullhorn? Do you think you have to know everything the Bible says and be able to quote chapter and verse? Are you concerned that you would have to lead someone through a “sinner’s prayer”? These are our own created perceptions of evangelism that keep us from being healthy faith sharers, and are NOT what other people want from us anyway!
To be a faith sharer, having a story to tell about what Jesus means in your life is important. Being able to lean into listening to others share their stories is even more important! What is your story about an answered prayer? Tell it, and ask – have you ever experienced answered prayer? I bet the other person has a story too! Before long, you are connecting your faith to actual living! Today, evangelism is about relationship and authenticity. No one expects you to have all the answers, but a real story about your relationship with God through Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit can be an exciting, authentic witness that other people want to hear.
“Unattractive” and “irrelevant” are words that hurt us because we have invested so much of our lives into what we have now as “church” and we simply can’t understand how other people don’t want what we have. Unfortunately, these perceptions that others have about Christianity often come from one experience with one Christian during one part of their lives—and it simply (like prejudice) spreads to all who call themselves Christian. This is what we are up against when we move out from our pews into the community around us. We are called to be more like Jesus (loving, kind, graceful, etc.) everywhere we go in order to help other people realize that their perceptions may not be true about every church and Christian.
A few weeks ago, while lunching at Olive Garden with a friend, our server came to our table flustered and concerned because we waited too long. We greeted her with smiles and said, “all is well.” During our interaction with her I noticed a lovely feather tattoo on her forearm, so I asked her to tell us the story of that art work. She quickly shared how it was a representation of a special relationship she has with her sister and was so grateful that we asked and were interested in her story. We all experienced an authentic conversation and felt a significant connection with another human being.
My spiritual practice lately has been to see each person in front of me as a loved Child of God – no matter what. I’m hoping that our server felt that during our time together. We did the work of planting “love seeds” so that God can continue to grow them—that is evangelism—as we share abundant Christian love that transforms lives wherever we go!
