The story of the unraveling of civilization could go on indefinitely. At its’ root, this is a moral problem. There are many factors that play into it. However, one major contributor is that the Church has failed. Yes, there were / are failures in the pulpit. But remember this: We are all the Church – all those people who are called by His name. As Jesus was about to leave this earth, He instructed His followers: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” (Matthew 28:19) Jesus was saying He wanted people not to just be believers – but those who would commit themselves to spread the teachings of the Gospel and adopt the ways of Christ in their worldview and way of living. It is there that the Church has failed.
It was 1970 when the State of New York legalized the killing of the unborn. The Supreme Court followed in 1973. Since then, tens of millions of lives have been taken. About 69% of Americans now support the legality of abortion.[i] The Church’s response has been tepid at best.- Enabled by the internet, the viewing of pornography has exploded. And let’s not fool ourselves. It has invaded our churches. According to Mission Frontiers, “68% of church-going men and over 50% of pastors view porn on a regular basis.”[ii] “A Barna research study found most pastors (57%) and youth pastors (64%) admit they have struggled with porn, either currently or in the past.”[iii]
- According to the CDC, about 40% of the children today are born out of wedlock.[iv] [If you think that that is NOT a problem….well, that’s another problem.] 25% of kids grow up without fathers in the home. They account for 63% of youth suicides, 71% of school dropouts and 90% of homeless and runaway children. They are “4x more likely to grow up in poverty. 7x more likely to become pregnant as a teen.[v]
- The Bible clearly defines the practice of homosexuality as sin. But the number of those identifying as somewhere on the LGBTQ spectrum has gone up every decade. Of those born in 1945 or earlier, the number is 1.1%. For Boomers (1945 to 1964) it is 2.3%. Generation Z, those born from 1997 to 2004, it is 22.3%.[vi] Altogether, 7.6% of adults ID as LGBTQ. And we, as a society, celebrate the sin, encouraging the behavior. Even some denominations have abandoned the biblical stand and embrace the entire LGBT agenda, not only blessing gay marriages, but ordaining clergy and bishops.
These are just a few examples of where the Church has failed the culture. So, we’ve seen a rise in divorce rates. The promotion of gambling. The notion pushed that children belong not to the parents but to the state. The family degraded. And many church goers seem satisfied with making a couple of church appearances a month. Listening to the sermon – but not letting it change their lives. If we want to see this thing turn around we will need to live in the spirit of repentance. I have quoted it often recently in my podcasts. But just look at the words of 2Chronicles 7:14. There is the formula for restoration. “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” Want to stop the Unraveling? Let’s do what it says!
[i] Where Do Americans Stand On Abortion, Gallup.com, July 7. 2023
[ii] 15 Mind-Blowing Statistics About Pornography And The Church, Mission Frontiers, viewed August 8, 2024
[iii] Pastors and Porn, Psychology Today, January 30, 2020
[iv] Unmarried Child Bearing, CDC, Births: Final Data for 2022, tables 9 and 10, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/unmarried-childbearing.htm, viewed August 8, 2024
[v] Fahterhood Initiative – viewed August 8, 2024 https://fatherhoodinitiative.org/research#:~:text=1%20in%204%20children%20grow%20up%20without%20a,children%20growing%20up%20in%20America%20without%20their%20fathers
[vi] Share of respondents who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender in the United States from 2012 to 2023, by generation
STATISTIA, viewed August 8, 2024, https://www.statista.com/statistics/719685/american-adults-who-identify-as-homosexual-bisexual-transgender-by-generation/
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