The Real Reasons People Are Leaving Church—And Why You Shouldn’t Follow Suit by THOMAS MCDANIELS for Charisma News
GNN Note – Being “woke” rarely works out.
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Have you ever heard someone say, “Pastor, we are leaving the church and it’s our fault”?
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I haven’t.
Can we find good reasons to stop attending church? Absolutely. Can we find personal reasons to divorce our wife or cuss out our boss? Sure. Should we divorce, cuss out the boss or leave church? Most likely not.
There are multiple reasons to stop attending church and multiple reasons to keep attending. The truth is, all of us, including Christians, do what they want. One primary reason the church is in decline is because we have become more selfish and preoccupied with ourselves.
Let’s do a disclaimer. Let’s agree that churches are not perfect, and all churches make mistakes. That’s because we are people. Pastors make mistakes, too. Leaders fail. Visions falter and many churches lack luster.
This does not mean we should leave our church or attend less, but the choice is ours to make.
Who attends less?
- Consumers attend less. We have witnessed a shift in Christianity and churches. Christians are now consumers of the commodities of the church. “Consumer Christianity” is counter-cultural to genuine biblical Christianity.
Christians who are consumers attend less than those who contribute.
There are reasons. Reasons for not attending include:
—Can’t find the right church (23%).
—Poor health (9%).
—Sermons aren’t engaging (18%).
About 20% of adults attending services say they don’t feel any greater connection to God at church than at home.
A Pew Research study found that 37% of Americans who do not attend church practice their faith in other ways.
Gallup says:
U.S. church membership was 70% or higher from 1937 through 1976, falling modestly to an average of 68% in the 1970s through the 1990s. The past 20 years have seen an acceleration in the drop-off, with a 20-percentage-point decline since 1999 and more than half of that change occurring since the start of the current decade.
