Okay, I’ll admit it. I have long been a fan of the show “Family Feud.” I like the family versus family format, and the hosts are usually entertaining. But what I like most is seeing if I can guess what the top answers are in each “survey of 100 people.”
Recently, though, I read about a new survey, which had results that I did not like.
According to news reports, “nearly 30 percent of U.S. adults are religiously unaffiliated, 10 percentage points higher than a decade ago, Pew Research Center said in its latest survey.”
Although there were some hopeful notes to be found in the results, the “secularizing shifts evident in American society so far in the 21st century show no signs of slowing,” Pew said in releasing the findings. “The recent declines within Christianity are concentrated among Protestants.”
There has been much discussion about “nones”—people who claim no religious affiliation (whether atheist, agnostic or just “nothing in particular”).
Whenever you stop to consider survey results, it’s important to remember that these are said beliefs among the respondents and thus the population at large. This means the number of people who admit to being a “none” could be low; that those who truly are “none” could be even higher.
That’s stunning to consider. At the same time, though, it’s one thing to say you’re a “none,” and it’s another to confess to be a Christian but act nothing like it. On that level, it could be worse to say you’re a Christian yet never pray, seldom or never attend church and never crack open a Bible—let alone serve others or share the Gospel.
Even in this new survey, “fewer than half of U.S. adults, 45 percent, said they pray daily, compared to 58 percent who said they prayed daily in 2007,” with “nearly a third of U.S. adults, 32 percent, (saying) they seldom or never pray, up from 18 percent in 2007.”
So what should we do? Let’s use a survey like this to live all-in for Jesus. Let’s pray for revival, and to let it begin in our own heart and homes; for revival to being in our own churches and communities.
With God’s help, we can see this trend reversed, one person at a time. With His help, those survey says moments in coming decades will rebound, to the glory and praise of His Name and His Kingdom. Lord help…
