By Matt Friedeman, PhD
December 27, 2004

(AgapePress) - It is not pretty. And, when considered for over, say, five minutes, it can be downright disheartening.

Call it Barna's annual "greatest hits" parade: The Barna Group's listing of downright depressing religious findings for the year. George Barna tries his best to keep from catapulting church leaders into emotional freefall, but this year (as usual), he fails.

While the data is broken down into encouraging, surprising, and disappointing findings along with the most significant challenges, Barna's encouraging information isn't nearly so interesting or provocative as the disappointments. Most of this stuff will just have you shaking your head and, perhaps, weeping. A sample:

• Born-again Christians and adults who attend Christian churches are more likely than atheists, agnostics, and adherents of non-Christian faiths to buy lottery tickets.
• There is significant attrition of men from Christianity. The number of unchurched men is rising, while the number of men who are "deeply spiritual" and who possess an active faith (attend church, pray and read the Bible during the week) is diminishing.
• Tithing is uncommon and almost non-existent among those under the age of 40.
• The number of unchurched adults in the United States has doubled since 1991 especially among men, people under 40, singles, and people living in coastal states.
• Born-again adults who have been married are just as likely as non-born-again adults who have been married to eventually become divorced.
• Just half of all Protestant senior pastors (51%) meet the criteria for having a biblical worldview. Barna has, of course, defined that worldview for us. It includes believing 1) that God is the all-knowing and all-powerful creator of the universe who still rules it today; 2) that Jesus Christ never sinned; 3) that Satan is real; 4) that salvation is received through faith in Christ, not by good deeds; 5) that every follower of Christ has a responsibility to share their faith with non-believers; 6) that the Bible is accurate in all that it teaches; 7) that absolute moral truth exists; and that 8) absolute moral truth is described in the Bible.
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Don't let these things get you too down, however. Barna's data are reminiscent of a painting by George Frederick Watts, a 19th-century artist. He depicted a blindfolded woman clutching a broken down lyre; but he entitled this painting "Hope." The broken lyre, if one cares to look closely enough, has one string. And, Watts seems to convey, if you have that, you have enough to yet sing a tune.

If the Church in this country has one string, let it be this: "God is still at work."

My little church has plenty of faults, I am sure. But God is still at work in us, through us. On the Saturday before Christmas we delivered gifts to the children of inmates whom we work with at a local detention center. On Monday a group of eight of us piled into several prison cells and preached Christ; 36 inmates said "Yes" to Him. On Wednesday night at our prayer meeting we were interrupted by a couple in dire straits and were able to lend aid. On Friday morning (Christmas Eve), we stood outside the sole abortion clinic in our state, in chilly weather, to ask women not to destroy their babies. On Christmas afternoon we went to a local nursing home and handed out roses to our friends there, friends whom we have made through a regular ministry across the months. On Sunday, we worshiped the God who makes all of this possible, by His grace, in us, through us.

That was a rather normal week.

Ours is not a depressed church. We know the data Barna unveils and we don't doubt his numbers. But we also remember the old soldier who reminded us that the whiners, the complainers, the fearful and the despondent are rarely on the front lines of the battlefield. At the point of engagement, there is too much purposeful activity to wonder overly-much what is wrong with evangelicals in this nation. Our church is under orders. We march on. And, it is remarkable what action can do for the other maladies that Barna indicates plague the Church. Holy exercise, we have found, is good for overall health and biblical fidelity.

"The place for a man complete in all powers is in the fight ..." said Oliver Wendell Homes. We claim this for the Church. For it is in the godly fight we have found our string.