A couple of years
ago, Cathy Lynn Grossman, writing for USA Today, did an article on religion in
America. Her research led her to conclude that Protestants in America are
declining and people with no religion, ‘nones’, are rising in number.
Protestants are less than half of Americans, while ‘nones’ are one in five. What this means is that there are now more ‘nones’ in the United States than any other denomination.
Warren Bird from Leadership Network writes, “More that 1 out of every 3 adults, 33% in America is unchurched. This means they haven’t attended a religious service of any type during the past year. This represents some 125 million Americans. That number alone would be the 10th largest country in the world.”
What do all of these statistics mean? That America is a mission field. Of course, it always has been. Reaching people with the gospel always starts in your own neighborhood and moves outward (Acts 1). You don’t have to get on a plane, learn a new language, new cultural setting to be on the mission field. You are living on a mission field!
This doesn’t mean that the people in other countries are less important than the people in Nebraska. It just means that the church is missing its easiest target – our neighbors, friends, classmates and co-workers.
Don’t you love living in a place where you’re needed? I like being a missionary 24/7. Hopefully, you see yourself as a missionary, at least always thinking like one. Salt does no good in the shaker.
Luke 10:2 tells us, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into the harvest field.”
It’s great to ask the Lord to send workers. We should keep doing that. But we should also remember that each one of us is to be counted among those workers. So be one of the workers by looking around every day and reaching out to the ‘nones’ in your own backyard.
Protestants are less than half of Americans, while ‘nones’ are one in five. What this means is that there are now more ‘nones’ in the United States than any other denomination.
Warren Bird from Leadership Network writes, “More that 1 out of every 3 adults, 33% in America is unchurched. This means they haven’t attended a religious service of any type during the past year. This represents some 125 million Americans. That number alone would be the 10th largest country in the world.”
What do all of these statistics mean? That America is a mission field. Of course, it always has been. Reaching people with the gospel always starts in your own neighborhood and moves outward (Acts 1). You don’t have to get on a plane, learn a new language, new cultural setting to be on the mission field. You are living on a mission field!
This doesn’t mean that the people in other countries are less important than the people in Nebraska. It just means that the church is missing its easiest target – our neighbors, friends, classmates and co-workers.
Don’t you love living in a place where you’re needed? I like being a missionary 24/7. Hopefully, you see yourself as a missionary, at least always thinking like one. Salt does no good in the shaker.
Luke 10:2 tells us, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into the harvest field.”
It’s great to ask the Lord to send workers. We should keep doing that. But we should also remember that each one of us is to be counted among those workers. So be one of the workers by looking around every day and reaching out to the ‘nones’ in your own backyard.
Blessings,
P.S. Discouraged? Tempted? Worried? Fearful? Insurmountable problems? Can’t cope another day? Everyone against you? If you can relate to any of these you won’t want to miss our services this week at 9:15 and 11:00 and discover the pathway to happiness.
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