We are living in some confusing and conflicting times. There are many good and positive things happening in our world and, at the same time, many horrible and evil things. Jesus told the church at Smyrna in Revelation 2:10, “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Now more than ever, we need God’s people to be faithful in living the truth of God and serving the God of truth.
Rudy GrayGary Forster, a Christian consultant, has shared some insightful facts that reflect the confusing and conflicting times of today. For example, 61 percent of young people in America want to be virgins when they marry, while only 32 percent of adults believe premarital sex in wrong (in 1969, the number was 68 percent).
Generation Y workers will need to save 18.7 times their final pay in retirement income in order to maintain their current standard of living. At the same time, the average Social Security payment today is only $1,170 a month. Unless people over 55 stay in the work force longer, the United States could have a shortfall of up to 5 million workers by 2018.
Fifty-three percent of the Millennial generation disagree that the Bible is truly the Word of God, truth without any mixture of error. Fifty-two percent of pastors today were saved as children at a summer camp or Vacation Bible School. Eighty percent of seminary and Bible college graduates who enter the ministry will leave the ministry within the first five years.
If there are approximately 400,000 churches in America, it is estimated that 60,000 will close in the next 10 to 15 years. If that is measured by 10 years, it means that about 115 churches per week will close. If it is measured by 15 years, about 76 per week will close. If these statistics are even close to correct, it does not paint a promising picture for many existing churches.
There are many more statistics that could be cited to point to all sorts of conclusions. However, the bedrock truth is that God is sovereign. He has a plan. History will conclude the way He has determined. We do not know everything statistics mean for us today, but we can know Christ and we can be confident His Word is truth. In the final analysis, our calling is not to develop our own timetable but to work under God’s timetable. We can do many things better and different, but one thing we must never cease to do is to be faithful to Christ.
This has been called a time of transition for the church in America. It may well be. But the greatest legacy we can leave for those who follow is not found in the statistics we typically use to define success. It must be found in our testimony of faithfulness to God and obedience to His Word – regardless of the consequences.