This past Sunday, my Pastor gave a wonderful message with staggering statistics. These statistics have been bothering me all week. As you know, they say that “statistics is the math for liars.” You can use statistics to twist, bend, and show any desired outcome. (White, 2023)
The Pastor’s statements were: “In America alone, over 1000 churches are closing each year”, equating to almost three churches per day shutting their doors for good. The second statement was that “~3,500 Christians are walking away or abandoning Christianity each day.” Wow, that hit me hard; I was sitting there calculating the numbers in my head, and it comes out to about 1.3 million Christians turning their backs on Christ each year. That’s an incredible number of believers who, once walking in the light, are now choosing to return to the darkness. (White, 2023)
It then hit me, BAM! Was this the beginning of the great falling away that occurs at the end of days? Was I seeing the initial phase of the great falling away from the true Christian faith and maybe even “THE” great apostasy, which was predicted by the Apostle Paul, happening right before my very eyes?
“Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by Word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4). (Bible Gateway, 2023)
It might be, but I needed some more facts. So, let’s evaluate this a little deeper and see what’s causing these staggering numbers and the root causes.
Demographics
In 2023, the oldest Boomers turn 77, and the youngest will celebrate their 59th birthdays. Boomers have been the heart of most churches for decades on end. This is true of mainline, evangelical, growing, and declining churches. Born between 1946 and 1964, Boomers have been the center of the megachurch movement, too. They not only led them, but they’ve served, given, and attended in droves. The relative age of the Boomers is starting to impact trends big time. Since 2020, Boomers have become the least likely demographic to return to church; this saddened me deeply; the facts I gathered showed that 22% say they have stopped attending church entirely, while only 16% of Millennials have stopped listening.
Similarly, 54% of Millennials attend primarily in person, and 65% of Boomers say they only attend in person. This means that, unlike Millennials, Boomers don’t track with church when they’re not in the building. Millennials and Gen X are comfortable with the hybrid online/satellite church, while Boomers have mostly not embraced it. (Nieuwhof, 2023 )
Lack of Sound Doctrine
It didn’t take me long to find the facts to support these claims; the nationwide study of about 1,000 Christian pastors found that just slightly more than a third (37%) of U.S. pastors hold a biblical worldview. The majority (62%) possess a hybrid worldview known as Syncretism. I had to ask Webster what that Word meant; I had never heard of it.
Religious Syncretism is the fusion of diverse religious beliefs and practices. Instances of religious Syncretism—as, for example, Gnosticism (a religious dualistic system that incorporated elements from the Oriental mystery religions), Judaism, Christianity, and Greek religious philosophical concepts—were particularly prevalent during the Hellenistic period (c. 300 BCE–c. 300 CE). (Webster, 2023)
Once I read this, it hit me: This is the start of the One World Religion. Was this the same as the ecumenism movement toward worldwide Christian unity or cooperation? The term, of recent origin, emphasizes what is viewed as the universality of the Christian faith and unity among churches.
Note: this hybrid worldview is the fusion of diverse religious beliefs and practices.
It could be merging Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, etc. It’s a pick-and-choose view of a mixture of religions. Sorry, the Word is apparent on this. There is only ONE WAY, not a hybrid way.
John 14:6 The only way to the Father is through me. Jesus told him, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (Bible Gateway, 2023)
Let’s get back into the numbers here; my study showed that 41% of senior pastors —compared to 28% of associate pastors — have a biblical worldview. Further, only 13% of teaching pastors and 12% of children’s and youth pastors have a biblical worldview. (Nieuwhof, 2023 )
The lowest level of biblical worldview was among executive pastors, with only 4% holding consistently biblical beliefs and behaviors. (Nieuwhof, 2023)
As a reminder, a biblical worldview is a view of the world that seeks to answer life’s biggest questions from the teachings of the Bible. Many people see having a biblical worldview as unimportant. This includes non-Christians who see the world from a different worldview, as well as Christians who don’t want to apply what the Bible says to cultural issues or everyday life. (McCoy, 2023)
Amazingly, this means that sound doctrine based on a biblical worldview is not even being preached by most pastors across all spectrums. (McCoy, 2023)
Sound doctrine is important because our faith is based on a specific message. The overall teaching of the church contains many elements. Still, the primary message is explicitly defined: “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures [and] . . . he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). This is the unambiguous good news and is “of first importance.” Change that message and the basis of faith shifts from Christ to something else. Our eternal destiny depends upon hearing “the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation” (Got Questions, 2022)
Prosperity Gospel
One of the most popular nonsound doctrines preached today is the “prosperity” gospel. The prosperity gospel is a religious belief among some Christians that financial blessing and physical well-being are always the will of God for them and that faith, positive speech, and donations to religious causes will increase one’s material wealth. It is also called the “health and wealth gospel” or “name it and claim it.”
This belief is not without controversy. Critics argue that the prosperity gospel distorts the true gospel message and emphasizes material wealth and prosperity too much.
So we have the pastors not teaching the Word properly; we have the prosperity Gospel rocking those still in the church asleep, which leads directly to the following fact I discovered.
Churches Not Supporting Social Issues
A study by Lifeway Research found that the decline in church membership and the large numbers leaving the church for good appears to be primarily a result of more Americans expressing no religious preference. What, are you serious!!! This means that Christians are rejecting Christ! They are fed up with what’s being said in the church, so they walk away and turn their back on Christ. (Kumar, 2023)
All these reasons align themselves with the last survey I’ll mention. This survey concluded that the primary reason for the decline in the number of churches and Christians walking away from the faith is that people are becoming more post-Christian. Another new term for me, “Post-Christian,” refers to a society in which Christianity is no longer the dominant civil religion but has gradually assumed values, culture, and worldviews that are not necessarily Christian. That’s a fancy way of saying they have. We are living in a culture where Christianity is no longer impacting the culture. The survey said the decline in church attendance appears to be primarily the result of more Americans expressing no religious preference. Twenty-five percent of those leaving said they disagreed with their church’s stance on political and social issues. They didn’t like the church’s stance on homosexuality, abortion, Gender issues, and other moral issues. (Kumar, 2023)
So, let me gather these facts and summarize what I’ve said thus far.
Baby Boomers are leaving in droves.
The rise of the hybrid religion is becoming more and more accepted
Many go due to pastors not preaching “sound” doctrine.
Christianity is no longer impacting culture
Christians disagree on the church and the Bible’s position on various social issues.
Summary
So, let’s wrap this up; remember, the “Great Falling Away” is a biblical phrase that refers to a time when many people will turn away from the Christian faith. It would appear that this is beginning to occur. People are searching for a church that agrees with them and how they view the world, Which may not align with the Bible’s teachings. This results in many “Christians” not agreeing with what they find in church, so they return to what they were doing.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their desires, they will gather around them many teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. (Bible Gateway, 2023)
We are seeing the beginning of the saddest hour in human history. Many are turning away from the faith and back to the world, while many seek to find a religion that aligns with the world. Satan is standing in the shadows and is raising false prophets to condone this, turning away, and the love of “most” will grow cold because of their increase in sin.
I believe the great falling away has begun.
Michael
Bibliography
Bible Gateway. (2023, November 16 ). Retrieved from Biblegateway.com: www.biblegateway.com
Got Questions. (2022, January 4 ). Retrieved from Sound Doctrine: https://www.gotquestions.org/false-doctrine.html
Kumar, A. (2023). The Great Falling Away. Chicago: Christian Post.
McCoy, D. (2023, November 16). renew.org. Retrieved from What is a biblical Worldview? https://renew.org/what-is-a-biblical-worldview/
Nieuwhof, C. (2023, Jan 1). Lifeway Research. Retrieved from The Gospel Coalition: www. lifeway-research.com
White, J. (2024, November 12). Preaching on The Holy Spirit. (M. Wheelon, Interviewer)
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