![]() ![]() I grew up on the tail end of what’s known as the “Evangelism Explosion” model. To summarize, we are aware of the problem of the state of evangelism, but we are not clear on the answer. ![]() He says those concerned about it “don’t know what to do about it.” ![]() People in the church are concerned about this decline, but the activity is still dropping. As they’ve analyzed the data over 25+ years, they have noticed that the “evangelism number almost looks like nothing but a downhill rollercoaster.” They’ve looked at the primary purposes of the church, like evangelism, discipleship, ministry, worship, fellowship, and prayer. His company has been tracking data in the church since 1996. Thom Rainer, founder, and CEO of Church Answers, believes we are now living through the death of evangelism in the North American church. It’s truly a remarkable organization, and I’m proud to play a small part in it. I’ve done this in partnership with a group called Within Reach, a group of pastors working together to reach the city of Omaha for Jesus. Over the past few months, I’ve interviewed 12 lead pastors in Omaha, NE, about the state of evangelism in their churches. That is not far off literally, one or two generations away. Pew Research has done some future charts to show that if things remain similar, those with the Christian faith will no longer be the majority between 2050-2070. 11% may not sound too extreme, but that represents nearly 35 million fewer people in a decade who no longer identify with Jesus being their Savior. While 63% of people is still a significant majority, over the past decade, that number has slid down from 74%. You would think with that high percentage that collectively, our reach and influence would extend across every spectrum, but sadly, we seem content to remain silent on the margins. This may surprise you, but the majority of people in 2022, 63%, still self-identify with the Christian faith. The state of our faith in our nation is in rapid decline. ![]()
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