By almost any metric, the churches in our nation are much less evangelistic today than they were in the recent past. In my own denomination, we are reaching non-Christians only half as effectively as we were 50 years ago (we measure membership to annual baptisms). The trend is disturbing.
We certainly see the pattern in the early church where “every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). In too many of our churches today, the congregations are reaching no one for Christ in the course of an entire year.
The Poll
I conducted an unscientific Twitter poll recently to see what church leaders and church members thought of this trend, My specific question was: “Why do you think many churches aren’t as evangelistic as they once were?”
The responses arrived quickly and in great numbers, both in public tweets and in direct messages to me. Indeed, I was still receiving responses four days after I sent my Twitter question.
The Results
The response was highly informative for me. Here are the top fifteen responses listed in order of frequency:
- Christians have no sense of urgency to reach lost people.
- Many Christians and church members do not befriend and spend time with lost persons.
- Many Christians and church members are lazy and apathetic.
- We are more known for what we are against than what we are for.
- Our churches have an ineffective evangelistic strategy of “you come” rather than “we go.”
- Many church members think that evangelism is the role of the pastor and paid staff.
- Church membership today is more about getting my needs met rather than reaching the lost.
- Church members are in a retreat mode as culture becomes more worldly and unbiblical.
- Many church members don’t really believe that Christ is the only way of salvation.
- Our churches are no longer houses of prayer equipped to reach the lost.
- Churches have lost their focus on making disciples who will thus be equipped and motivated to reach the lost.
- Christians do not want to share the truth of the gospel for fear they will offend others. Political correctness is too commonplace even among Christians.
- Most churches have unregenerate members who have not received Christ themselves.
- Some churches have theological systems that do not encourage evangelism.
- Our churches have too many activities; they are too busy to do the things that really matter.
So What Is the Solution?
I received hundreds of responses to this poll. There is obviously widespread concern about the lack of evangelism in our churches and among Christians.
First, let me hear what you think of these responses. Second, and more importantly, offer some solutions to the challenges. Make certain those solutions include what you can do as much as what they should do. I look forward to hearing from you.
photo credit: people talking in paris via photopin (license)
Posted on February 23, 2015
With nearly 40 years of ministry experience, Thom Rainer has spent a lifetime committed to the growth and health of local churches across North America.
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325 Comments
WOW! After reading many of the comments, I feel like wanting to quit church for sure. As a matter of fact, visiting & helping out in many churches have pushed me hard to want to quit church all together many times. Fore too many of them were so out of touch with the Word of God in many ways. And if not the church in itself, it was a hand full of long time volunteers, & some who were “perfect” relatives of the leaders causing a mess. 🙁
Mind you, I’m not looking to be selfishly satisfied in a church. A truly biblically based, Christ filled church with Christ filled leaders would be tops. I know there are no perfect churches but God did not call the churches or followers to perfection, just to obedience and faith thru Christ. And it’s getting harder to come across any that do that. However, The Lord won’t have me to give up on His church.
Many times I cannot be a real part of the solution (outside of just praying) to a church problem because of the forces within that won’t let that happen & God saying don’t. I had to learn that The Lord & prayer is the first & only solution to healing & protecting the church from beginning to end. After all, it does belong to Him.
For all you Pastors that are in the trenches serving thru CHRIST, don’t lose heart or give up. You were called by God, & it’s never going to be easy. Hey, look at Christ & His disciples. Be encouraged thru Christ, prayer, His Word, & other believers that He sends your way. I’m thankful for you.
Thank You for the article. Truly Real points. I’m glad that you shared this.
So, what next? Opinions aren’t moving the church to change! HELP LORD!!!
PS Wait till you learn about seek-friendly churches Emerging like wild fire. I Cry! But pray. 🙁
Hi Thom
Thank you for taking the time to do this survey.
I have attended church since before I was born, in my mom’s tummy. I attended church regularly growing up, sang in the youth choir and attended Christian schools from the 4th grade through 12th grade. Both my parents, the church and the church schools I/we attended were so legalistic there was no love. By the time I finished my Junior year of high school all I knew is I wanted out of punishment, hate filled, demeaning, “your not good enough” culture, that I told my parents I would not attended the church school the next year. If that meant going to public school so be it. If I have to ditch school so be it. There was NO Grace and Mercy in our home, church or schools (elementary through high school). I came to believe God is just like my earthly father….just waiting for me to screw up so He can punish me. You see my father would “spank” (more like beat us) my self and my sis terms till we had welts from the top of our legs to our lower backs, for the smallest of his expectations, as in taking out the trash. Yet on Sunday mornings we were all dressed up and went to church looking like the perfect Christians, mom and dad laughing a joking. It was all about putting up the good looks. We never felt loved, just looking for some place to dodge dad’s wrath and then wrath of God.
Shortly out of high school ( 3 years) I rekindled a relationship with a gal from High School and got married. Two sons latter and 25 years of marriage, dissolved in anger and disappointment. It was at this time I was introduced to Celebrate Recovery, a Biblically based12 program for All of life’s hurts, habits and hang ups. You see, I accepted Christ as my personal Savior back in 4th grade, but the people in my life, from parents to teachers to pastors, were all poor examples of God’s Love, Grace and Mercy. By then time I found C.R. I was completely defeated of Love, Grace and Mercy. Christian or not, I/you simply can not give away what you don’t possess. It’s been a long difficult yet rewarding process to find my way back to God. To come to the realization, my Heavenly Father isn’t like my earthly father. To learn how to forgive myself, others and God (for what I expected of Him). The Celebrate Recovery will take a person from Denial (unbeliever to Believer) to healing the wounds of our past. To healing our God relationship and where possible relationships with others (they aren’t all possible and that is where church leaders make big mistakes). As we heal and grow we are encouraged to give back to Celebrate Recovery and or the local church. It is our personal testimony of a changed life that is far more compelling to a non believer than standing on a corner preaching or preaching at someone from a pulpit. My idea of evangelism is telling others one on one or in a 12 Step Group, how God has change me and my life. What my life was before and what it’s becoming day by day. My life is in process. Yes my Salvation was secure the day I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior, but to be healed James 5:16 says we must confess our sins to one another and pray for each other. It’s not easy to be open and transparent and confess I’m not perfect….but man o man is it ever freeing. For this reason I’m starting another C.R. Men’s Step Study Group soon. I’ll get a front row seat and watch God work miracles in these men’s lives and as I’ve seen in the past I will grow through the challenges of leadership. I’ll be transparent the very first night and tell them what I’ve been through and what I’m still struggling with. I’ll set the example for transparence I never had growing up.
The first time I saw transparency In pastors lives was back in 2000. In the 7 years I was there I saw a church grow like a house on fire. HOT!!!! People were real, transparent, loving, caring, showing mercy and genuinely helping each other over come their hurts habits and hang ups. This is what happen when one pastor listened to God and shifted his emphases off “how many people could he get to attend his church?” to “how can I help people get over their hurts, habits and hang ups and grow in Christ love”. The more you are free of your hurts, habits and hang ups, the more you are free to love others and help them.
It all goes back to the old saying:
No one cares how much you know,
till they know how much you care.
One more thing before I go.
I’ve learned that very often I have to give away….
what I so desperately desire.
Example: My dad…..I had to tell him I love him…..before he could tell me he loves me. Now before we hang up the phone he says “I love you son” to that I tell him, I love him.
Floyd
Most Churches are concerned about growth in the local congregation, but are not ready or even care to teach people how to share their faith. I had researched through the Church over the past 2 years with people that are Christians of 1 , 3, 9, 13 years . I asked a question in my research here it is: How long have you been saved? followed by: How many people in that time have you personally led to the Lord in a prayer of salvation? most of them said none, and a very few said 2 or 3. According to the book of Acts the Lord added to the Church daily those that would be saved. I figure that in a year is 365 people saved. I believe we should be at work leading people to Him daily. The Church I was attending was more focused on setting up Cell Home groups to hear last Sundays message about obedience, than training people new and old in the basics of Soul Winning and showing them a Soul Winning Plan to leading them to a decision for Christ. My current plan is to start a Soul Winning Class on Saturday mornings for 12 weeks session and market the training to the local Churches so we can train the trainer for each Church. The Saturday Soul Winning Course would cost minimal to cover the cost of the workbook only and not for profit. I feel in my spirit that this is a God size undertaking and needs to be done. Keep me in prayer that God blesses it.
may the door keepers be feeling threatened by new blood and ideas taking their place in leadership and service and in doing so challenge the old adage “why that’s the way we always did it.”
This article is not a surprise!
It however has provided a tipping point for a number of us to begin to fast and pray for men across our churches and country. Here is a sample of an email we are sending to a growing list of men.
Isaiah 60:1-2 (NIV)
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. 2 See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.
We are fasting and praying starting Tuesday evening after dinner at 6:00PM. Some of our team will fast until Wednesday at 6:00PM and the rest of us will continue our fast until Thursday at 6:00PM. We will be praying as follows:
• Spiritual awakening of our churches, locally and nationally, that are called by His holy name (both in and outside our association)
• Christian men to have a renewed relationship with Jesus and a passion in sharing their testimonies concerning their experiences and walk with the Lord.
• Our Canadian leaders in government at all levels, to govern according to Godly principles.
• Our country that it would return to the Lord and be healed.
• Gods protection for our churches and church families.
• Our church leaders (pastors, elders, deacons, lay leaders)
• Spiritual and numerical growth of our churches and small groups
• Pray for the Harvest
This is a fact – we need a change – we need men, to be the change!
What would happen if all our churches committed to this time? What if we all humbled ourselves before our Lord? Would you join us in praying the Psalms and petitioning the Lord from His mighty word! Will you join with us until we hear from the Lord?
Casey
#2 is big one for me. Too frequently I have encountered a handful of people who always approach me about going to their church, but they do not want to invest any time in being a true friend. Most of us who go to church every week will spend an hour at church for worship and maybe another hour if there is a fellowship gathering or something else after church. Then after that, they leave without taking any time to talk to people (except when they already know them). I can honestly say that I am more lost in a church when I try to participate in activities outside of worship because it seems that most people are gathering with their families or other cliques but don’t want to include anyone new. As a result, I am more likely to leave than to stay. Whenever I try talking to someone who is an acquaintance in church, I am lucky to get five minutes, then they want to run along.
If churches want people to interact more and participate in occasional events, then there should be people in the church who are willing and able to guide people to groups where the lost sheep will fit in. Perhaps, in the church bulletins or at the end of the service, mention that there is an activity or gathering. Say something along the lines of “we encourage everyone to come and join us, even for a short time. “This would be an excellent opportunity to talk to people you have never talked to or don’t know.” Yes, in church people should be encouraged to talk about their faith with others, but if people are to connect, they are usually seeking people who have the same interests outside of church.
We desperately need to get back to God in our churches. It seems everything comes before God. We talk about sickness in detail for prayer requests and almost never mention the lost. I prayed for a burden for the lost and God answered that prayer.
Evan Roberts( Welsh Revival) spent agonizing hours in prayer for the lost. John Wesley wrote a sermon on hell that is hard to read because it is so terrifying , William Booth ( Salvation Army founder) had a vision of the lost ( can pull up on youtube), Jonathan Edwards wrote”Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. And, of course, Luke 16: 19-31 of the rich man in hell, Matthew 7 about the straight gate and narrow way that leads to heaven and FEW find it , and the passages in Gal 5 and Rev 21 give lists of those who will not inherit the kingdom of God ; and these passages certainly get my attention because God means exactly what He says. My Dad ( pastor, evangelist) spent hours every day praying for family, needs , but mostly for the lost. We can always pray for people every day whether we get a chance to witness to them or not, we can pass out tracts or leave them in places where we are day by day.
And yes, I too, live in the Bible Belt where we pastored and lived and “everyone is a Christian ” ( is what most say) and are so deceived . Matthew 7: 21 -23 is the saddest verse in the Bible when Jesus says, ” Depart from Me, I never knew you”
The main reason why this is happening Mr. Jeff, is that power(dunamis) left the church, as compare to the apostelic era. People now has stop reading the word themselves which is poisonous… Prayer which was also the foundation of the churches are not like first, now people’s tongues don’t carry anything but just noise, we have forgotten the acient of the apostles let’s backup and give ourselves to the word and prayer and stop depending of our pastors because they are not God.
In the mid-60’s I was teenager, in the 70’s I was in college, seminary and in my first pastorate, in the 80’s and 90’s a SBC missionary, and in the first decade of the 21 Century I was a CP missionary of a state convention. Today I am retired and have observed the truth of each of those reasons you have posted. These statements are underlined with a lack of passion for the lost.
As a teenager pastors and churches were convinced that the world was aflame in sensual sin and the local churches were seriously involved in personal evangelism and teaching members how to personally share their faith and did so in community. Evangelism burned in our hearts and we were ‘soldiers of the Cross’. From what I have observed over the fifteen years since returning ‘home’ this is no longer the case.
The local church has surrendered the cause of evangelism to the state and national conventions and are participating in evangelism events across their states. Fewer and fewer people are actually participating in personal evangelism where they live.
The solution is simple in my mind, but very much impossible to achieve until every pastor has a burning desire to see the lost come to the Christ. They MUST teach their people to become evangels to a lost and dying world. Until this happens the Great Commission will continue to be only an empty and hollow statement of our Lord.
“Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war” is no longer who we are. Our church buildings have become places where the church has retreated. Like the days of the Old West when the US Government constructed forts to protect the advancing settlements, the cavalry was not offensive, but only took defensive measures against Indian raids. It was not until the cavalry learned to be on the offensive were they able to defeat the Comanche in warfare. The same holds true for the local church. We must come out of our weekend forts and make an assault with the two-edged sword of the Gospel. We must not be ashamed. We must realize once again that Jesus, indeed, is Lord and Savior.
To The Body of Christ we are 1 Body with many members spreading The Good News of The Kingdom of God.
Blessings and Peace to all in Jesus The Messiah.
….Today the picture looks more like many bodies and the members are blind following leaders who feel their church is theirs when we are the church.
Leaders that want power, fame, and position and sell their souls for it along with the Spreading of The Good News.
The Anointing flows from the head down to the feet. But if the head is sick the body will be.
Sense of Urgency is equal to HEARING from God Now. There is a great disconnect as the majority of the church today who are almost identical to those who missed and didnt recognize the first coming of Jesus.
Now as Jesus is Coming again we are asleep. No Discernment of The Heart of God and what saith God to this wicked and perverse generation.
SOLUTIONS
1.) TRUE REPENTANCE
2.) Prayer and Fasting for unity and guidance by The Holy Spirit.
3. Really take a humble approach and do some self inspection and give all to God.
4.) Study The Love of God and when we go out to the world remember Jesus found us where we were and testify YOUR TESTIMONY to the lost not just preaching with a religious spirit.
5. Lock the church doors for a month and meet in front of it and go out and reclaim the territory in each area at a time for The Kingdom. Heal the sick. ..Help the widows. ..give sight to the blind…but Spread The Good News and you will see who is really a Disciple of Christ ..
Blessings Peace and Boldness in Jesus. amen.
May the Lord continue to empower you for the kingdom advancement in Jesus’ name. Amen! thanks for the exposition of that topic [evangelism].