I don’t think it is news to anyone in this country to learn that the religious perspectives of Americans have radically changed over the past several decades. Fifty years ago, we were a nation in which the majority of the population overwhelmingly self-identified as Christian (by any definition). The largest minority faith at that time was Judaism. Only a small number of Americans described themselves as non-religious, atheists, or as members of any other world religion (Islam, Hinduism, etc.). Today that spiritual landscaped has altered in ways we never would have imagined a half-century ago.
In 1990, the Pew Research Center, one of the country’s most reliable polling organizations, published the results of its first U.S. Religious Landscape Survey. That survey provided statistics on the percentage of American adults who identified themselves by religious affiliations. They repeated the surveys three more times in 2001, 2007, and 2014. The trends they observed in those time periods are quite revealing, especially for helping us analyze the state of the lostness in this country. (See the 2015 report at www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/ )
By “lostness,” we mean the percentage of Americans who do not know Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, and are, therefore, lost in their sin. That being said, we need to keep in mind that the surveys do not give us the complete picture. Many people who identify themselves as Christian, or as affiliated with a Christian organization, are not necessarily evangelized or born-again. Also, some groups that Pew identifies as Christian are actually theologically unorthodox cults (egs. Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses). That being said, in this article we will examine some of the trends the Pew surveys revealed, the implications they have for evangelicals, and what we can do to stem the tide.
We begin our analysis by looking at the growth trends among the U.S. adult population (18 and older). Keep in mind these figures only represent about 2/3 of the total population, including minors. In 1990, the U.S. adult population was about 175 million. Eleven years later in 2001, at the beginning of the 21st century, it had risen to around 208 million. By 2007 it had grown to 228 million, and by 2014 to 245 million, a 40% increase since 1990. Most of that increase was from those born in America, but a large percentage was from immigration, particularly from Latin America.
During that period, from 1990 to 2014, the percentage of adults in America claiming to be Christian (by any definition) fell considerably. In 1990, 86.2% identified as Christian. In 2001 it had fallen to 76.7%. By 2007 it was at 76.0%. By 2014, the percentage of people in the USA calling themselves Christians was 70.6%.
In real numbers, self-identifying Christians were about 151 million in 1990. That figure rose to 178 million by 2007 (about a 17% increase in 17 years). However, the number went down by 6 million to 172 million in 2014. That is a drop of 3%. In that same period (2007-2014), the number of adult Roman Catholics went from 54 million to 51 million, a 5% decrease. Likewise, the numbers of adherents in mainline Protestant denominations (United Methodist Church; Presbyterian Church USA; Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Episcopal Church; United Church of Christ; Disciples of Christ, et. al) sharply fell by 5 million, from 41 million in 2007 to 36 million in 2014. That’s a 12% decrease in only seven years.
Despite the overall decline in those denominations, the numbers of Evangelical Protestants have actual grown. In 2007, about 60 million Americans identified with movements Pew deems evangelical (Southern Baptists: Assemblies of God [and other Pentecostals]; Presbyterian Church in America; Lutheran Church Missouri Synod; and numerous nondenominational churches; et. al). By 2014 it had increase by 2 million to 62 million, a 3% increase. That is an encouraging sign, since most people in those movements have made some kind of profession of faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord. However, despite the growth in real numbers, the percentage of evangelicals in the total American adult population dropped from 26.3% to 25.4% in those seven years. Note also that the percentages of Mormons (1.6%) and Jehovah’s Witnesses (0.8%) remained steady,
As for adherents of non-Christian world religions in America, the percentage went from 4.7% to 5.9% from 2007 to 2014. The percentage of people adhering to Islam nearly doubled from 2007 to 2014 from .4 to .9%. That put the population of adult Muslims in the USA at about 2.2 million (note – many Muslims are reluctant to answer surveys, so their numbers may actually be higher).
Other world religions also increased their percentages by small margins. Judaism has increased a bit to about 4.6 million adult adherents. The increase of Islam and the Eastern Religions is mainly due to immigration. However, the world religions are coming to America faster than we are reaching them.
Certainly the most significant changes the surveys indicated was among those affirming no religion (those we sometimes call the “NONES” [not nuns]). Since 1990, the percentage of adults claiming no religious affiliation rose from 8.2% to 15.8% in 2014 (2001 – 14.2%; 2008 – 15.0%). In 2014, in answer to the question, “Does God exist?,” 3.1% gave an atheist response, up from 1.6% in 2007. 4% gave an agnostic response, up from 2.4% in 2007.
So what do these trends mean for our country and for us as evangelical Christians? Simply that the number of adults in the United States who we can reasonably assume are born-again Christians (Evangelical Protestants) is actually growing. In other words, there are probably more saved people in this country than there were a quarter of a century ago. The problem, however, is that the numbers of non-Christians are growing even faster. That means that the state of the American religious landscape is increasingly becoming less Christian, and more secular and pagan. That represents a serious challenge not only to American religion, but also our culture, morality, law, and political life.
So what can we do to counter these trends in our churches and communities? I suggest that all churches and Christian schools provide biblical worldview in-depth discipleship training and age appropriate curriculum for their people and students. Much of this information can be found on our MarketFaith website or at our online store.
The training should include the following worldview and doctrinal elements:
1. The basis of a Theistic and Christian worldview.
2. The basis for Christian authority (the Bible) and the principles of biblical interpretation.
3. Basic Christian Doctrine, including the Christians tenets of the following: God and the Trinity; the deity, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus; salvation (justification); holy living (sanctification); and life after death (glorification).
4. Basic Christian apologetics – Why we can believe Christianity is historically true and intellectually believable.
5. Competing Worldviews – Teaching Christians about other worldviews and religions, why we believe Christianity is uniquely true, and how we can effectively share Christ with those with other beliefs.
6. Christian Ethics – Explaining what the Bible teaches about morality and why we should follow ethical patterns of behavior.
7. Evangelism and Missions – Teaching and challenging Christians to tell others the Gospel and to take it around the world in response to Jesus’ Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20).
8. Stewardship – Teaching believers what Jesus and the Bible say about our relationship with money, the material world, and natural resources.
The 21st century presents the greatest challenge and opportunity for Christians than perhaps any time since the New Testament era. God has given us the responsibility of proclaiming His message in an increasingly hostile environment, even here in America. Nonetheless, we can be assured He will bless our efforts to spread the Gospel in this generation.
© 2017 Tal Davis