What is our purpose as Christians? What does God want us to do?
I think most Christians would say something on the lines of Acts 1:8.
"... you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
This is our purpose, to witness Christ to the world.
But how does God want us to do that?
Micah 6:8 tells us.
He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?
The latest religious landscape surveys tell us they predict within ten years that the United States of America will be a post-Christian nation. That means the number of people who identify as Christian will drop below 50%. In just ten years, Christians will be the minority. This already happened in Australia in 2022. It is happening all over the world.
The population of Christians in our country is decreasing. Pretty rapidly.
What catagories are increasing? It is atheists, agnostics, and Nones (no religious affiliation.)
Let's go over who these groups are.
Atheists - a person who does not believe in god
Agnostics - a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God
Nones - people who don't identify with any religion but believe in God
Why did these people leave Christianity?
"The reason given by the highest percentage of religiously unaffiliated Americans for leaving their faith tradition is that they simply stopped believing in their religion’s teachings (67%)." Other important factors include the negative treatment of gay and lesbian people, clergy sexual abuse scandals, their church or congregation became too focused on politics, their family was never that religious, and religion caused mental health problems. Whoa. That last one surprised me.
I thought this was surprising - "Very few Americans grow up without a religious identity and then join a religion later in life (3%)." And, "The vast majority of the religiously unaffiliated appear content to stay that way." (91%)
Only 24% of Americans attend religious services weekly. 21% once or twice a month.
"The importance of religion has also decreased across all age groups and education levels over the past decade. The biggest decline in the importance of religion emerges among senior Americans 65 and over (from 33% to 16%), followed by Americans ages 50-64 (from 31% to 17%) and Americans ages 30-49 (from 26% to 14%). There are no meaningful changes in the importance of religion among young Americans under 30 (from 18% to 14%)."
"Less than 5% of Americans identify as members of non-Christian religions, which is unchanged since 2013, including Jewish Americans (2%), Muslims (1%), Buddhists (1%), Hindus (<1%), and Unitarian Universalists (<1%)."
Basically people in our country are leaving Christianity and choosing to have no affiliation with a religion.
This is incredibly sad.
I hope you aren't reading this and thinking 'So sad, too bad. This is happening because society is going to pot. It's their doing.' This isn't happening because society's morals are declining. Christians and non-Christians have morals. God created us to know right from wrong. If you read the Bible you know human nature hasn't changed from day one. I mean seriously look at the sins they committed back then - idol worship, child sacrifice (!), murder, etc. I think the problem isn't that more people are morally bankrupt, but that more people are spiritually bankrupt. The exodus of people from Christianity today is most likely because we collectively are poor witnesses of Christ.
Christ showed mercy, compassion, gentleness, kindness, love,.. All the good things we have been taught our entire life. And you go, 'But what about who Jesus got angry with?' That was the religious leaders who didn't display compassion to others. They were hypocrites. Jesus told the Pharisees, “But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others." (Luke 11:42)
Look back at the kingdom books. Why did God judge the nations of Israel and Judah? It was because they were prideful and arrogant, teach lies, make unjust decisions, and robbed people of their rights. (Refer to Isaiah 9:9-10, 13-21, and 10:1-2. Although these verses are the sins Israel committed, Isaiah lists the sins of Judah as the same - exploiting others, being unjust, prideful and arrogant.)
There are 21 Epistles in the New Testament. Epistles is a fancy name for letters. All 21 letters are about how to live life as a Christian. For goodness sake, read them.
Don't you want to live as a Christian should? That should be what is in your heart. You want to please God, not grieve Him.
Jesus told us in Matthew 22:37-39:
And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’"
Nowhere in Scripture does Jesus tell us, His followers, to go around and scream at people and point our fingers and condemn them. That is just not our purpose. And if you think of any verses about holding each other accountable - re-read those. All of them have to do with one believer to another believer, and then to do it in kindness and gentleness.
A Christian should exhibit fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. (Refer to Galatians 5:22,23) If you aren't exhibiting this, you aren't acting like a Christian.
Our job description can be summed up:
Love God. Love others as ourselves. Be His witnesses. Do justice. Love kindness. Walk humbly with our God.
That is what we will be judged on in the end.
And if we do these things, the kingdom of God will grow.
We all know people who don't believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. I know so many mothers who will tell you their biggest heartache is their child has left the Christian faith. Their persitant prayer is that they will return to Christ. I get really angry when I see a professed Christian post an ugly, hateful, untruthful thing on their feed. People we are trying to have conversations with about Christ are seeing what you post and are judging Christianity by you and thinking, "I want nothing to do with that." You can't blame them. Quit harming our witness. We should care that our lives represent Christ well. Pray that we do. It starts with us being purposefully kind and gentle.
Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person. (Colossians 4:5,6)
Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. (Philippians 4:5)
but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. (1 Peter 3:15,16)
Right now a lot of people are angry at Christians for the way some Christians have been acting. Be kind.
How we should conduct ourselves:
I must be kind and gentle.
I must never resort to slander or name-calling.
What I say must be the truth. This involves time to look Scripture and information up. Verify the facts. This is absolutely critical because if you would lie or exaggerate, you have lost all credibility with the person. You must be a truth teller. Impeccable honesty. No half-truths. No exaggerated claims.
Should I make a mistake or error in what I say, I immediately own it and apologize. This keeps my credibility.
Should I not know the answer to what they are asking, I admit that. I tell them I will look into it and get back to them. And then I do it.
I remember that who I am talking to matters to God and therefore I treat them with respect.
I pray before I interact with them and I ask for help at being a good witness of Christ.
If you are going to post on social media, remember there are atheists, agnostics, Nones, and people about to leave the Christian faith who are reading what you are posting.
Remember: As Christians, we represent Christ to others.
Be compassionate because Jesus was compassionate.
He wanted no one to perish. We shouldn't either.
"By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)
To read the full survey, Religious Change in America, 3/27/24
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