God as a ‘Fashion Statement'

Tuesday, 10 March 2009 12:33 PM EDT Ministry News

In a single generation, the number of people in the United States who label themselves-even loosely-as Christian has gone down 11 percent. According to the latest American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS), almost all church denominations have declined since the original study was conducted in 1990.

Although that may not seem like new news to many pastors, this likely will: Americans who claim no religion at all now outrank every major religious group except Catholics and Baptists. These "Nones"-a term coined by the researchers for those who answered "None" when asked about their religious affiliation-currently represent 15 percent of the population, which is almost twice as many as in 1990.

"These people aren't secularized," said Barry Kosmin, co-author of the massive study that polls more than 54,000 people across the United States. "They're not thinking about religion and rejecting it; they're not thinking about it at all."

Indeed, the survey found that 40 percent have never experienced any kind of religious initiation ceremony (e.g., baptism, christening, bar mitzvah), while 55 percent who are married had a ceremony devoid of any kind of religious overtones.

"More than ever before, people are just making up their own stories of who they are. They say, ‘I'm everything. I'm nothing. I believe in myself,'" said Kosmin. In 1990, he concluded that many Americans saw God as a "personal hobby," and characterized the country as "a greenhouse for spiritual sprouts." Today, however, "religion has become more like a fashion statement, not a deep personal commitment for many."

So where is God the least fashionable? According to the 2009 ARIS, Vermont is now the least religious state with 34 percent of "Nones," leading all other states by 9 percentage points. Overall, the percentage of Christians in America now stands at 76 percent-down from 76.7 percent in 2001 and 86.2 percent in 1990.

"The challenge to Christianity," concluded the report, "does not come from other religions but from a rejection of all forms of organized religion." [AP, 3/9/09; usatoday.com, 3/9/09]

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0 #3 Jamye 2009-03-13 04:47 I think these survey results may be misleading. Many people are leaving mainline denominations, but are still serving God. My husband and I were Southern Baptists, but now pastor a non-denominational church. I love the Lord with all my heart, and have given my life to His work. He's the center of every part of my every day life, and my heart is to minister to His people and to lead the lost to Him. However, I do not identify myself with a "religion", and my answers to this survey probably would reflect that. It's become a cliche, but it truly is "not about religion. It's about relationship." Most believers I know would have answered the same way. This may be the reason for the outcome of this survey. Quote

0 #2 Chris Rainey 2009-03-11 11:45 Even though there has been a decline in the number of people identifying themselves as Christians it seems that there is a rise among believers to share their faith. We ([Kerusso - www.kerusso.com) just completed a survey that shows that 98% of people who purchase Christian t-shirts do so with intent of starting a conversation about their faith. Those who participated in the survey indicated that over 7% of the people they talked with, as a result of the t-shirt, committed their lives to Christ.

Just yesterday we had a Christian retail owner tell us that when times are hard people want to evangelize. She shared that in her store the two top-selling product lines right now are Bibles and Kerusso products. Quote

0 #1 Tom Winfield 2009-03-10 14:11 The problem in America in general and in the Church is that by far most are not sure at all that God is, that He is present, and willing to get involved with them. For millions, God seems irrelevant to life. I was once like that in my 20s and 30s. I became cold to God and Jesus. I thought salvation was all about Heaven. I thought it had nothing to do with us here. We had to take care of things ourselves. We had to pull outselves up by our bootstraps. God had nothing to do with it. He had, after all, just left us with a bunch of rules to obey and gone off in the Universe to do whatever He does. That is—IF HE WAS REAL. God was so irrelevant to me that I walked away from 26 years in church, saying—"There is just no power in this!" A girlfriend witnessed to me, and I said-"Mary, Mary, I've heard that stuff all my life and I don't want to hear it any more." She broke down and cried. I never called her again. Whose fault was this? Was it all mine? Was it all the churches I attended? Because they never told me God was right here—with me and in me? And that He would get involved in my life? No matter. I finally did get plugged into God, but only after I crashed and burned and came within a breath of suicide and screamed out to Him. Did I believe He would help me? No, I didn't. But I knew He was the only one who could. Did I by then believe He was real? No, not really. I was just desperate. Did He answer me? Yes, He did. He answered a number of times. He answered in ways that I could not doubt. He answered until He had me hooked. How many of those Americans who are just not interested in God will that happen to? I shudder to think… Why? Because they most likely will not cry out to Him. Most of America is going down the toilet while most of our pastors cannot introduce a person to God. Not to the idea of God. Not to words about God. But to God himself… These pastors are not connected to Him like that either. But today I know that you can know God, up close and personal; because God himself led me into that kind of relationship with Him. And I am really a nobody… America is such a big harvest for reaping, but most churches are just about as dead as those Americans who confess no interest in religion.What they are really saying is what I once said—"He aint't real, Joe. I see no evidence of Him being real. Not in my life. Not in the church. I'm just gonna go my own way." Quote

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