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| Volume 25 Number 7 July 2023 |
Page 10 |
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| Volume 25 Number 7 July 2023 |
Page 10 |
A Christian Minority
Johnny O. Trail
Recent studies indicate that Christians will be in a minority in the United States by the year 2070. There is already evidence that Christians forty years old and younger are in a minority in our nation. A recent paper reveals the following.
The generation of millennials, which includes most Americans under 40, is the first one in which Christians are a minority. By the year 2070 as few as one-third of all Americans could be Christians according Pew Research Center projections. “Nones” – people without an allegiance to a religious faith, could be as many as 52 percent. (Cook)
These statistics are alarming for assorted reasons. Sadly, a nation founded upon Christian values will no longer be Christian in its character and composition. If Christianity becomes a minority demographic, one wonders how long Christian liberties will continue – namely opposition to certain moral wrongs that have been embraced by United States culture.
If Christians become a minority in our nation, it will be no one’s fault but our own. For far too long, we have ignored the clarion call to be about the Master’s business in doing personal evangelism. Mark 16:15 says, “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature’” (NKJV). Evangelism is the primary work in which the church should be involved, but the behavior of some would lead church members to believe it is on the fringes of what Christianity is about. Nothing could be further from the truth!
Members of the body of Christ have been under the erroneous assumption that evangelism is the work of the preacher, elders or deacons of the congregation. The New Testament teaches that it is the duty of all Christians since we are all part of a “royal priesthood.” First Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
If we are persecuted for our beliefs, it might spur the church along to accomplish the mission that Christ imparted to the apostles and all who might follow our Lord. Acts 11:19-21 says, “Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only. But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.”
In our generation, failure to do personal evangelism has left the world much worse off than the society into which we were born. The words of Judges still ring true and deserve reflection. Judges 2:10 says, “When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel.” The figures given at the beginning of this article should underscore the need for evangelism and the need to instruct people in our congregations from God’s Word.
The Americans who do not identify as “Christian” have not received the instruction that might have otherwise pointed them to God. One source made the following observations regarding our nation’s view of the Bible and of reading from it.
About half of Americans (53 percent) have read little of the Bible. One in 10 has read none of it, while 13 percent have read a few sentences. Thirty percent say they have read several passages or stories… Americans also differ in how they approach reading the Bible. Twenty-two percent read a little bit each day, in a systematic approach. A third (35 percent) never pick it up at all, while 30 percent look up things in the Bible when they need to. Nineteen percent re-read their favorite parts, while 17 percent flip open the Bible and read a passage at random. A quarter (27 percent) read sections suggested by others, while 16 percent say they look things up to help others. (Smietana)
The words of the minor prophet Hosea ring true. He penned, in Hosea 4:6, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” It seems unlikely that our nation, or any other for that matter, will continue to prosper without God at the center of its national identity. God’s people still have time to turn the tide of what we see happening in our nation. If a group of twelve men with extremely limited resources could turn the world upside down, what of those members of the New Testament church who can communicate the message of Christ to people all over the United States and abroad using radio, Internet, television and the written word? We have no excuse for not evangelizing every person we contact. Acts 17:6 reads, “…These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.”
Works Cited
Cook, Michael. “‘Gimme that Old Time religion’: Did it Protect Americans from Deaths of Despair?” Mercator. 18 Jan 2023. 20 Jun 2023. <https://www.mercatornet.com/does-religion-protect-americans-from-deaths-of-despair>.
Smietana, Bob. “Lifeway Research: Americans Are Fond of the Bible, Don’t Actually Read It.” Lifeway Research. 25 Apr 2017. 20 Jun 2023. <https://research.lifeway.com/2017/04/25/lifeway-research-americans-are-fond-of-the-bible-dont-actually-read-it/>.
