I heard about this before today, but I was flipping through the channels and someone said that the reason he thinks that the numbers are going down is because we don't evangelize anymore. He says Christians are scared to evangelize. He also said that groups that evangelize, like Mormons, don't see slippage.
People want to hear what to hear about God. They want something to believe in. However I think too many of us don't know how to evangelize (raises hand) or are scared that we'll get flamed (not literally, but in some cases it could be)
I'm not worried about numbers so much that I'm worried that it seems like we've given up. It seems like we'll talk about God to our Christians friends and not to our non-Christian friends because we don't want to cause a stir. It's like what Tye Tribbett and GA said,
"Everybody's playing it cool
Don't wanna rub nobody the wrong way
It's almost like we're trying to fit in,
acting like we don't know THE NAME
It's time for us to stand out
And go against the grain
Forget trying to be down
Let the world know you've been changed."
I also think that another part of the issue may be those of use who go out and are just plain mean and ungodly to the people they try to evangelize to. They don't show compassion, they don't show love. No only does that turn non-Christians off it turns Chritans off who are afraid of being seen as 'one of them'. Then there's the people who are so liberal that following Christ becomes, "Eh, you can do what you want. You're under the blood now". The man on the television spoke about this as well. He said religions (for lack of a better word) that are more strict tend to acquire believers. It's kind of like being a leader. If you're ruthless nobody wants to be lead by you. If you're too lenient no one takes you seriously. If you're tough but fair, then people will follow you.
So what do you think about the subject?
