When I think about our modern culture, it is striking how some things have become part of our daily lives, and how new they are. A smart phone, Facebook, Starbucks, on demand movies like Netflix, and even the internet is pretty recent. Everyone had flip phones (remember the triple click to text a letter), but as smart phones emerged, the flip phone declined. Like our flip phones were, I believe our religions are also being caught in a paradigm shift which has never been seen before, and it is driving a decline in engagement. In James Emery White’s book “The Rise of the Nones”, he sites research that shows the percentage of Americans that claim no religious identity has jump dramatically in in recent years from 8.1% in 1990 to 19.3% in 2012. What can be the cause of this dramatic jump away from organized religion?

Sometimes the truth is difficult to hear, but if we can’t speak the truth in love, we won’t have the opportunity to deal with difficult issues. Gabe Lyons and David Kinnaman conducted a study of young Americans outside the church. Here were the unchurched people’s key descriptors of the church and what percentage had the opinion:

Anti-homosexual (91%), Judgmental (87%), Hypocritical (85%), Old-fashioned (78%), Too involved with politics (75%), Out of touch with reality (72%), Insensitive to others (70%), Boring (68%), Not accepting of other faiths (64%), Confusing (61%). Also notable in a separate poll of the general population of the unchurched was: No value in attending church (74%), Churches have too many problems (61%), They didn’t have the time (48%), Churches ask for money too frequently (40%). Keep in mind that these studies are reflecting perceptions of the unchurched. These are tough to hear, but likely we have heard some of them from family and friends in discussions about religion and church.

There is hope. Regardless of engagement with an organized religion, most still believe in God and a greater power. In my conversations with unchurched, most also think if the churches were more like the true spirit of Jesus, they would be more attracted to it. He reached people where they were, approached everyone, and loved us so much he died for our sins. Remember he picked fishermen as the disciples to spark a worldwide religion, and was not shy about engaging with lepers, tax collectors, and prostitutes to help them. Part of the task is to engage with people to shape perceptions that may be wrong, and the other part involves actual changes in approach our churches must explore. There are some churches that are specializing in growth through the unchurched, and they are having success. If the broader church community does not adapt to fill this expanding void of the unchurched, literally in one or two generations we could be looking back and wondering what happened.

One of the main obstacles to reaching people today is a shift of how they want to engage with religion. The order in which they engage with religion, and are drawn to faith has shifted:

1950’s to the 1980’s: Believer first -> Connect to church community -> Church causes to help people

1990’s and 2000’s: Connect to church community -> Became a believer -> Church causes to help people

Now in to 2010’s: Church causes to help people -> Connect to church community -> Became a believer

The newer generations want to know their church makes a difference to help people first, before joining a church community and committing their faith. To them, this proves a church and religion are “walking the walk” and not “just talking the talk”.

For the modern church to thrive it is going to have to truly show it has become more inclusive and less judgmental. It will have to include a key focus on helping the less fortunate, so others can see the “good fruit” it can bear as a primary focus. Today’s world unfortunately has a clutter of activities on Sundays, like children’s sports and unfortunately work for some. In order to reach people “where they are” the church will have to be more creative with newer media like Facebook, Twitter, and Blogs, as well as have some alternative service times and places. In God’s plan there are often unpleasant things that cause us to act and change for the better long term.

But the church is not just a building or a pastoral staff. It is us. Us that belong to the church community are the church. Something wonderful could be coming, if we all get engaged and become part of it. This blog is part of my outreach, as is my helping in church recovery classes with others to reach out and try to help others as a pathway to God. If you are engaged with a church and want changes, you need to get involved. Let them know how you feel, but also offer yourself up as a resource to help with that change.