According to Lifeway Research, among Protestant pastors in the United States, 3 in 5 consider someone in their congregation a regular churchgoer if they attend church at least twice a month. Come to church every other Sunday (26 times a year) and you’re now considered a regular in the American church. To say that infrequent is the new frequent is not an exaggeration.
The local church has lost its prominence and priority in the life of far too many professing Christians. According to Lifeway Research’s State of Theology report, 54 percent of evangelicals believe worshiping alone or with one’s family is a valid replacement for regularly attending church.
Believing one doesn’t have to go to church to be a Christian is as commonplace as believing Jesus was born in a Bethlehem manger. This is the new normal, and church leaders cannot pretend this is acceptable. The Scriptures have no category for the unchurched Christian.
I believe three factors are at play in creating the far too large category of “unchurched Christian.”
1. The “personal relationship with Jesus” emphasis of 1990s youth ministry
Growing up as a teen in the ’90s, it seemed every sermon was about a “personal relationship with Jesus.” It was centered on you and God. Your relationship, your “quiet time,” and Jesus functioning as your close friend. Certainly, the Bible communicates that the children of God have a relationship with their heavenly Father and should grow in that relationship.
This emphasis has had long-ranging effects we’re experiencing as those 1990s teens are now adults, raising families of their own. If it’s all about a personal relationship, why not have church on the golf course, boat, or Sunday brunch?
As Christians, we’re a corporate people who are not to neglect gathering (Hebrews 10:25). We have a personal faith we live out corporately as the family of God in the context of local churches. That’s the design and framework of the New Testament, and that sovereign plan has not changed.
