Snapshot

The times are changing.

I compiled these statistics for the leadership of our church. They are just brief snapshots of our culture, as well as statistics on church growth and membership.  Our unique American brand of life is evident here, and is noticed in statistics that are current.

While these statistics may cause a bit of culture shock, the statistics on declining church membership should be equally, if not more, shocking. And it is not a far stretch to assume that the first series of statistics are relevant to the second series of statistics.

___________

Culture

• Social Media
  • There are, now, 800 million Facebook accounts.
  • More than 50% of active users log into Facebook every day.
  • There are more than 2 billion posts liked and commented on every day.
  • 250 million photos are uploaded every day.
  • 75% of Facebook users are outside the U.S.
  • It is available in 70 languages.
  • 47% of Facebook users have swear words on their Facebook profiles.
  • The average Facebook user spends almost 8 hours on Facebook every month.
  • Facebook links about sex are shared 90% more than average.[1]
  • 41% of teenagers are very unsure about the future of email, and 15% already consider it dead.[2]
  • The words “retweet” and “sexting” are now part of the Oxford English Dictionary.[3]
  • And shopping on “Cyber Monday” – the Monday following “Black Friday” – this year added sales in excess of $1.25 billion, up 22% from the totals of 2010, breaking last year’s record high.[4]
  • Americans viewed 42 billion online videos in October, 2011.
    • That is 21.1 hours per viewer.
    • Half of those were watched on YouTube, or other Google sites.[5]
• Millennials
  • Half of all 12-year-olds are on Facebook (some 1.78 million), and they are evading Facebook’s age limit requirements.[6]
  • 45% of Millennials (those between 18 and 34 years old) use their mobile devices to research product details before buying big ticket items. (As compared to 34% of those between 35 and 54.)
  • 28% of these use their devices for location-based apps multiple times a day.[7]
  • 33% of the more than 1400 18-29-year-olds surveyed said that Internet access has become a basic need ranking behind air, water, food and shelter.
  • 64% said they would prefer an Internet connection to a having a car.
  • 40% said that the Internet is more important than dating or going out with friends or even listening to music.[8]

• Video Games
  • Seven of the top 10 video games, sold in America in 2011, were “shooter games.”[9]

• Music
  • “92% of the “Top Ten” Billboard songs are about sex.”
  • Of the top selling 174 songs in 2009, each contained, on average, 10.49 sex-related phrases per song.[10]

• Family Time
  • “The average parent spends 38.5 minutes per week in meaningful conversation with their children.”
  • “Family dinners are more important than play, story time and other family events in the development of vocabulary of younger children.”
  • “Frequent family meals are associated with a lower risk of smoking, drinking and using drugs; with a lower incidence of depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts; and with better grades in 11 to 18 year olds.”
  • “Adolescent girls who have frequent family meals, and a positive atmosphere during those meals, are less likely to have eating disorders.”
  • “Kids who eat most often with their parents are 40% more likely to say they get mainly A’s and B’s in school than kids who have two or fewer family dinners a week.”[11]
  • “Family time has decreased since 1976.”
    • “The percentage of respondents who engaged frequently in attending religious services together decreased from 38 percent in 1976 to 29 percent in 1997.
    • The percentage who engaged frequently in watching television together decreased from 54 percent to 42 percent.
    • The percentage who engaged frequently in sitting and talking together decreased from 53 percent to 42 percent.
    • The percentage of respondents who frequently have the main meal together on weekdays decreased from 72 percent to 58 percent — and the percentage who take a vacation together decreased from 53 percent to 38 percent.”[12]

Church Growth, or Lack of, In America:

• “How many people do you know who will, most likely, not walk into a church building? They are not alone. Western cultures are facing a major crisis. With 83.6% of America not attending a conventional church on a given weekend and approximately 95% of the people in other western cultures not attending a conventional church …”

• “Approximately 80% of all churches in North America have reached a plateau or are declining. The vast majority of the church’s growth comes from “switchers” – people who move from one church to another.”

• “There is precious little conversion growth. Researchers suggest somewhere between 1-3%.”

• Church attendance is declining:
  1990 — 20.4% of Americans attended church on a given weekend
  2000 — 18.7% of Americans attended church on a given weekend
  2005 — 17.5% of Americans attended church on a given weekend
  2010 — 16.2% estimated church attendance
  2020 — 14.4% estimated church attendance
  2050 — 10.7% estimated church attendance if Jesus has not come.

• “Other western cultures, like Europe, Australia, and New Zealand record church attendance ranging between 2% – 8%.”

• “As of 2008 over 3,500 people leave the church every day.”

• “The yearly decline in the percentage of people attending a Christian church was faster from 2000—2005 than it was from 1990—2000.”

• “The average church in the United States will spend as much as 64 percent of its budget on staff salaries.
  Additionally, it will spend as much as 30 percent of its offerings on maintaining its buildings.
  Researchers say that churches spend between 82 – 96 percent of their financial resources on maintaining themselves.
  In 2001 “the total cost of Christian outreach worldwide averages $330,000 for each newly baptized person. The cost per baptism in the United States tops $1.5 million.”

• “Fuller Theological Seminary did a research study that found that if a church is 10 or more years old, it takes 85 people to lead 1 person to Christ. If a church is less than 3 years old, it takes only 3 people to lead 1 person to Christ.”

• “Between 1990 and 2050 church attendance will grow from 50 million to 60 million.
  Census estimates forecast a population growth from 248 million to 520 million people.
  In other words, America would need (as of 2008) 15,000 new churches of any kind every year to keep up with population.”

• “Every year, approximately 4000 new churches open their doors. Every year approximately 7000 churches close their doors for the last time.”

• “Agreeing with other researchers, George Barna, in his book Revolution, has confirmed that many are going to house churches, in a spiritual quest of a more relevant relationship with God.”

• “The new Revolution differs in that its primary impetus is not salvation among the unrepentant but the personal renewal and recommitment of believers. The dominant catalyst is people’s desperation for a genuine relationship with God. The renewal of that relationship spurs believers to participate in spreading the gospel. Rather than relying on a relative handful of inspired preachers to promote a national revival, the emerging Revolution is truly a grassroots explosion of commitment to God that will refine the Church and result in a natural and widespread immersion in outreach.” (From George Barna’s book, Revolution.)[13]

---

[1] http://www.youthministrymedia.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/mashable_infographic_graphics-facebook-numbers.jpg

[2] http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2011/09/is-e-mail-dying-teens-check-in.html

[3] http://mashable.com/2011/08/18/oxford-english-dictionary-retweet-sexting-woot/

[4] http://mashable.com/2011/11/29/cyber-monday-sales-2011/

[5] http://mashable.com/2011/11/29/online-video-views/

[6] http://www.homeword.com/blog_info.php?articles_id=1247

[7] http://mashable.com/2011/10/13/millenials-mobile-infographic/

[8] http://iblogo.com/2011/10/04/for-youth-internet-is-as-essential-as-food/

[9] http://www.videogamesblogger.com/2011/01/01/top-100-biggest-games-of-2011-happy-new-year-from-vgb.htm

[10] http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2011/09/92-top-ten-billboard-songs-are-about-sex/43182/

[11] http://dinnertrade.com/568/interesting-statistics-on-family-dinners

[12] http://www.sermoncentral.com/illustrations/statistics-about-Family-Time.asp

[13] simplechurchathome.com/Why.html

Strangers

The Mayflower.

The good ship Mayflower brought to the shores of America those who wanted a religious freedom.

Kinda.

They came from England, by way of the Netherlands.

Because they went to the Netherlands first, and it was there that they first experienced religious freedom. They weren’t harassed. They weren’t maligned. And they certainly weren’t persecuted. Their persecution ended when they left their homes in England, and migrated to the great town of Leiden. And there, in those small pastoral communities, they found their freedom.

It was a different brand of freedom, though. They were extremely conservative — for they were Protestants who believed that England had not gone far enough in its dramatic transformation from a Catholic empire to a Protestant one. Once they believed their rebellious thoughts and ideals would continue to warrant persecutions from mainline Anglicans, they left England for the quaint little town. But not before they had their say.

There was a little conference where they were given an opportunity to voice their displeasure with the Church of England, and they were discounted on all arguments, with the exception of their desire for a new English translation of the Bible.

England obliged. And from that conference a slightly well-known version of the bible was produced. Specifically, the King James version.

Seeing they were at an impasse, though, they left. They could not change an institution so great as the Church of England. And though their persecution may have been difficult while in England, most scholars believe that they were never physically harmed.

Their community in Holland, though, was not their supreme ideal. It afforded them distance from England, but they weren’t exactly happy. William Bradford himself, in some of his own journals, lamented the influence the local culture was having upon the children of these Separatists. Here’s what he wrote:

But that which was more lamentable, and of all sorrows most heavy to be borne, was that many of their children, by these occasions (and the great licentiousness of youth in that country) and the manifold temptations of the place, were drawn away by evil examples into extravagant, and dangerous courses, getting the reins off their necks, and departing from their parents. Some became soldiers, others took upon them far voyages by sea; and others some worse courses, tending to dissoluteness, and the danger of their souls; to the great grief of their parents, and dishonor of God.

Their decision was made. They must leave. They must go to a place where they could organize a community in a cultural vacuum, where their children could forever escape any vile influences. But they couldn’t escape them entirely.

Aboard the Mayflower were others. Entrepreneurs. Soldiers of fortune. And these people did not share the intense beliefs of the Separatists. So the boat ride across the Atlantic became their second attempt (if you count their experience in Holland) at mixing with heathens.

They had an interesting word for those on the boat that didn’t share their beliefs, as well. They called them “Strangers.”

And, of course, they called themselves “Saints.”

And their settlement in Massachusetts, in Plymouth, mirrored that. They had a charter, and a government, and implemented a settlement that, within a few short years, dictated anyone who lived in their colony must worship in their churches. Those sanctioned churches received tax money from the colonists. Attendance was strictly enforced. And competing churches, or beliefs, were declared illegal under colonial rules. Colonial laws were passed to ban these faiths, and those in disagreement could be punished with death.

A few people paid that price. Read Mary Dyer‘s story on Wikipedia.

How interesting, then, that the very people escaping repression soon enacted their own repressive system.

The early colonies set a powerful precedent that still exists in America. Going to church is a very hard thing to do.

Right now, only 16% of Americans attend a traditional church. In ten years, and based upon current trends, that number will shrink to 14%. That even includes the new, hip churches with soaring attendance. Those churches, rapidly growing, aren’t helping the sliding numbers at all.

And right now, in America, based upon fiscal budgets of churches, and the number of those baptized into Jesus, it costs $1.5 million in church budget monies to lead just one person to Jesus. In churches at least ten years old, it takes 85 people to lead just one person to Jesus, based upon the average numbers in growing attendance.

So what, then, is the solution?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Heaven

The Dura-Europas church is one of the earliest known homes which also functioned as a Christian church, from 235 AD.

In Chinese, the term, literally, is “underground heaven.”

I now know why.

There is something special when believers are together, in a very small setting, sharing their own revelations from God.

__________

In a previous post I wrote of how the first Christians worshiped and shared. In the years following the ascension of Jesus, and as Paul began to plant Jesus in various parts of the world, small gatherings of people met in homes, sometimes daily, and shared the moments in their lives when God was active. These groups of believers did not have church buildings or facilities. They had no bibles, and many were Gentile converts, and may not have even known Abraham or Moses. They had no preachers, or ministers, and certainly had no one who received a salary. And, initially, they had no elders.

The revelations they shared, described in 1 Corinthians 14:26, were just one part of a larger worship order that probably offends most contemporary pastors, preachers, and church leaders …

… because, in that “worship order,” there appears to be very little order. Everyone participated in the gathering. Women, men, children, slaves, nobles, aristocrats and commoners. It was a gathering of people from varying degrees of life, sharing the most intimate moments of their lives together. And God was alive. He was seen.

I am a fairly gifted teacher. I’ve won an award or two for teaching in the collegiate setting. I’ve heard testimonies from former students, both in college classes, and from our own church, of how their lives were changed because of the things I said, or taught. And those compliments are fine, and I praise God for any benefit anyone has received because of, and in spite of, me.

But my ability to lead a group of any size pales in comparison to what happened in my small group last night. Because God showed up, and the meeting changed into something that felt a lot like heaven.

__________

We’ve built a series of expectations with our students in this small group. Through the first six or seven weeks, I have encouraged them to envision a different life by centering each week around one central question: What would your life look like if your future was planned to solely benefit the Kingdom of God?

Students aren’t really taught to answer that question. Historically, we’ve built a society, and an educational system, to push personal success above all other achievements. So to ask that question is quite radical. I dare say most churches may not even teach their students to answer that question. But it offers a unique plan for life.

What if every career choice, and relationship, and dream, and plan, was all determined by how that choice or relationship or dream or plan would benefit and expand the Kingdom of God?

I was never taught to ask that question. You probably weren’t, either.

So from there we emerged into a couple of weeks of teaching on how God moves us, and then how God moved Paul. We ended last week with a simple assignment: notice, through the week, the moments when God is revealing Himself to you, and then be prepared to share that at our next meeting.

And so, last night, we did that. And there was a moment, felt by all, when we realized that something very special was happening. The meeting took it’s own course, it’s own shape, and I was aware, even if others weren’t, that I was no longer leading. I felt that.

A very intense time of sharing began. Students, and adults, spoke of their own revelations. We all left with the sense that, while God works in our own lives, and while we pray deep prayers for intervention, God also works in the lives of others. He is active. He is alive.

And it was this “order of worship” that literally changed the entire world. Believers in Jesus, in the first few centuries after Jesus’ ascension, literally set the world on fire, just by meeting together, and hearing each other’s revelations from God.

Remember — we had no curriculum. We had no bestselling book as a discussion guide. I offered no teaching moment. We just invited the Spirit of God to join us, and were all in agreement in that invitation. And then it happened.

In China, where Christianity is, for the most part, a persecuted faith, Christians must meet together, in secret, in homes. And their word for house church is simply translated into English as “underground heaven.”

After last night, I know why.

__________

There is more that will happen, and should happen. We are in a society that would rather not show hurt or despair, or even adulation, when the Spirit of God is revealed to us. Because of this aspect of our culture, we aren’t expected to share any sort of revelation from God, in part because we are taught that God no longer speaks … or we are taught that God’s Word is His final spoken will to us. That cannot be true, though, especially if the church flourished without the Torah, and certainly without the current version of the Bible we own.

Also, we have great difficulty even looking directly at people when we do share with them, simply because our churches are designed for us to see just one person. We are taught, inadvertently, to access God through just one leader standing before us.

I am quite confident, though, that we will become more comfortable with this ancient-yet-emergent format, as this group continues to experience something that is very, very special. I am praying prayers of protection now, because when God comes in power, there is serious opposition. I expect it, because I saw, and experienced, the power of last night.

With

There is such a thing as an intense reading of the Word of God.

To complete the task, within three months, you need to read about 12 pages a day in a standard print bible — or you’ll need to read about 15 chapters a day. Fifteen chapters.

Obviously, if you fall behind in the reading, even just one day, then the next day, in order to reclaim the pace, you must read about 30 chapters.

So, yes, there is a bit of intensity when you read the Word.

I anticipated the challenge, when I laid it before our students and our church about five months ago. Perhaps it’s naivete, but I thought everyone else that I knew would be as eager for the challenge as I was. I really believed that I would see the masses engage the Word of God for a straight 90 days.

And, to be honest, very many were. But somewhere along the way, in the hot days of the summer, the excitement ebbed, and those who began with big dreams didn’t, or couldn’t, keep the pace, while some finished the reading in half the time.

So what to make of all of this?

Here are a few observations:

• I really believe that the Word of God is an intimidating book to most of us. While it makes for a nice Christmas present, it’s complete story isn’t always read. It’s value is never fully realized because it has never been taught correctly. Our seminar culture means that one must have an advanced education to really grasp the story within its pages. We’ve been led to believe that need intelligent men and women to explain it to us, and to teach it to us — and that we need charismatic teachers and personalities to make it come alive in our hands. And, by default, we’ve been led to believe that without those ingredients, the Word of God doesn’t have quite the same power in our lives. It is complex, and difficult to read, and therefore, too overwhelming. The very fact that many did not complete the entire challenge is a testament to this. I don’t believe anyone simply walked away from it, but rather, I think that we have never been taught that we can, on our own, discover its real value.
• We misunderstand its place in our life. I only write this point after discovering, for myself, its true place in my life. It’s residence, in life, was a great anonymity for me. It was an engulfing black hole, until I finally decided to read it in its entirety. I knew the basic story, all the basic plot lines, and knew that there was some eventual good things, and even some horribly disturbing moments. But until I read it, I failed to understand it. For the most part, we have inherited a church culture that applauds and lauds the New Testament, while rarely opening the Old Testament. We look to Paul’s letters for means of order and propriety in worship, while ignoring the historical moments of their writing. We love the Gospels, but rarely understand the need for a Messiah mentioned so often in the Old Testament. There is a total theological story that is rarely understood. It is a book of God’s interaction with people … with good people, and with bad people. Our lives are build around complex relationships, as were the lives of those within the Word. God came to those people in different ways, and interfered with their lives in different ways. I see the Word of God as a powerful book of people’s relationships with God. I wish others could see it the same.
• Time was difficult to find. With an intense reading, finding the required hour or so to read, every day, in an already overbooked schedule, was very tough. Even in my summer of ministry events, finding the required hour was not always easy. But why did most find it hard to find that extra hour?  That is the essential question.

Here’s the sense I make of these observations:

We reside in a church culture that promotes access to God and church through visual means and great teaching. We desire people to be attracted to the product we present on Sundays, so much so that we rarely hold people accountable to the need to daily become involved in God’s written story.

Wouldn’t it be cool if people, together, discovered the truth in God’s Word? Wouldn’t it be life-changing if people actually read the story of God daily? Wouldn’t it be cool if that’s all anyone could ever really talk about? I imagine that world, and I see it.

And because of that vision, this challenge was born. In spite of the above observations, though, there were some really awesome things that came from this challenge.

• One, people’s intimidation factor diminished a little. Once you find that you can read the Word, and even read the “hard stuff,” you are no longer as scared of it. I think that is a good thing.
• Two, people are familiar with the story in ways they had never been before. Even the historical information of the Torah, though, at times repetitive, became a topic of conversation early. Through those books, one gets the idea that God was in every detail of the lives of people. I think that is a good thing.
• Three, there emerged the truth that to read the Word, you need time. People tried really hard to find the time. And even if they couldn’t complete this challenge, it became apparent really quick that to involve yourself in God’s story is a total process of immersion. I think that is a good thing.

Relationships with the Word of God improved. I’m so thankful to all who began this journey, who took a step, in faith, to read something so big and so massive. Any attempt is time in the Word, and that, to me, makes the summer incredibly successful.

Stewards

I sent a weekly email to our small group leaders today.

When people are moved, by God, into places of ministry and effectiveness, they become targets for discouragement and temptation. Essentially, they are under attack. If your life isn’t being attacked, it may be time to evaluate your effectiveness in God’s kingdom.

That being said, I felt, through my time of prayer this morning, that I needed to encourage our leaders to be advised that their lives will suffer frustrations, set-backs, and temptations because of their desire to lead students to Jesus. I am blessed to partner with such passionate men and women who feel their ministry is to students in our community. God has blessed them with a blossoming desire.

Through these years of small group leadership, I’ve learned a thing or two about how to lead these groups, and to use them to become gardens for changed lives. These are the things I shared with our leaders, and I thought they were worth sharing with you, too, dear reader. If you lead a small group in your church, then consider these words for you, too.

Hey team. Thank you all so much for the great response and energy last Wednesday night! It was one of the largest kick-offs we’ve ever hosted. Thank you for all the prep work, and invitations you made to our students.

As we begin, there are now some new Facebook groups for our huddles. … These are really great means of communication, but there are a couple of things I’ve learned about them.

One, these messages go straight to a member’s email address. Your members may not know that, and to prevent inboxes from exploding, you may want to remind the members. Two, lots of students have migrated from Facebook, even though many of us (that is, many of adults) still use it regularly. There are some strange things happening in the social media world, and the biggest is just being overwhelmed with information. I’ve noticed this trend, in earnest, this summer. And that’s why I redesigned our student and children’s ministry website, since there are so many online options now.

For communication, then, I’ve learned the best way to contact our students is to do it personally. Messages in Facebook, or Twitter, are fine, but nothing ever takes the place of a personal invite.

That being said, you may want to collect phone numbers, and permissions, to text students. I recommend dividing your leaders and students, so you can text the same students every week.

I am praying and fasting for all of you this week. I really believe the changes we made last year, in introducing this “free market” small group concept really released us to discover God’s own purpose for our ministry, and our influence. It was greatly encouraging to see that our attendance, at Huddles, was exceptional.

Good attendance, though, doesn’t always make for changed lives. Strong biblical discussions, and great accountability, are keys. You already know this, but I want to sharpen us a little, and further challenge us to read diligently, and daily, in the Word of God. Feast on it. Let it speak to you. Don’t rely on great books by others, or even music. We must model great stewardship with the Word to our students. Do not ignore its influence. It is the best way to fend daily temptations and selfishness. I know, because it does this for me, every single day.

That being said, you may want to study [with your huddle] a particular book of the Word during the course of this semester — one of the gospels, or even one of the minor prophets, perhaps. We must teach deeper, if we want our students to respond with life-changing moments.

Get ready, though. If we move our lives in this direction, as we teach these kids, we will be attacked. These attacks have already begun in my life, even this morning. That’s why I’m praying for all of us today.

Blessings to you today! If you have anything you would like for me to pray, as I talk to God today, please let me know. It would be an honor to pray for you today.

It made for a lengthy email, but this information daily challenges me. If you lead, lead well!