So, since there is no clearly identifiable correlation between tithing and general decline within the Southern Baptist Convention, there must be such evidence within general national trends. Right? WRONG! There is no correlation because the national trends point to an overall decline reflected in dwindling church giving, attendance and overall religious affiliation. (“Statistical Research on Stewardship.” 2011. FINANCIAL PLANNING and STEWARDSHIP. January 19, 2011. http://biblicalstewardship.net/statistical-research-on-stewardship) Historically, income levels rose in the 1920’s, dropped during the Great Depression, rose during World War II then soared since the 1950’s where most households had more disposable income. Overall, giving has not kept pace with this newfound wealth. Protestant data for giving to local churches in these same periods shows a continued decline from 2.9% in 1916, 3.2% in 1933 to 1955 then to 2.6% in 2002. Similarly, Barna Group summarizes that those who tithe remained steady between only 5-7% since the turn of the century. (“New Study Shows Trends in Tithing and Donating.” Barna Group, www.barna.com/research/new-study-shows-trends-in-tithing-and-donating/) Referencing a study on religious giving by M.S. Brown for the Center for Philanthropy at Indiana University in 2004, Hill reflects on the fact that the American church collects $80-85 billion annually from only 3-5% of Americans yet church leaders complain about the “extreme urgency of giving to the church so the gospel can be preached” and the “scarcity of funds.” (Eric M.Hill, What Preachers Never Tell You About Tithes & Offerings: The End of Clergy Manipulation & Extortion. SunHill Publishers, 2013. Chap 4. Kindle.)
Pew Research Center’s 2020 “Religion & Public Life Project” found in 2009 those who attend a church once or twice monthly surpassed those who only attended occasionally or not at all by a “52%-to-47% margin.” Now, it is reversed at a 54/45 margin. “Nones,” or those not affiliated with any religion, are growing in multiple demographics such as race (white, black and Hispanic), gender (men and women), education (higher and lower levels) and throughout all parts of the country. This trend is more pronounced in Millennials where 76% of Baby Boomers identify as Christians and only 49% of Millennials identify as Christians, 40% as “nones” and 10% with other faiths. Those who never attend religious services and those who attend once a week are both 22%. (“In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace.” Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project, 9 June 2020, www.pewforum.org/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-Christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/ and also see www.pewforum.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2019/11/Detailed-tables-for-upload-11.11.19.pdf)
Both in 2009 and today, 62% of Christians attended services at least once or twice a month. So, church attendance is not declining because less Christians are attending but it is declining because there are less Christians in the overall population. There are now nearly 23 million more adults in the U.S. than in 2009, but those who identified as Christians fell from 77% to 65%. Interestingly, this same period reveals a rise among non-Christians identities from 5% to 7% today. (“In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace.”) Pew Research Center’s 2015 report, “America’s Changing Religious Landscape,” similarly assessed that “The Christian share of the U.S. population is declining, while the number of U.S. adults who do not identify with any organized religion is growing.” (“America’s Changing Religious Landscape.” Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project, 12 Feb. 2021, www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/)
A Gallop poll found in 2021 similar results indicating a drop in Christian identification and a rise in no religious affiliation. U.S. religious membership was first tabulated in 1937 at 73% and remained steady for more than sixty years when it began declining to 70% in 1999, to 50% in 2018 then to 47% in 2020. At the same time, no religious affiliations rose from 8%, to 13% then to 21%. Contrasting from Pew, Gallup found a consistent doubling of no religious affiliations across all age groups where traditionalists rose 4 to 8%, baby boomers 7 to 13% and gen x 11 to 20%. (Jeffrey M. Jones, “U.S. Church Membership Falls Below Majority for First Time.” Gallup.com, Gallup, 1 Apr. 2021, news.gallup.com/poll/341963/church-membership-falls-below-majority-first-time.aspx.)
This examination of overall giving and religious affiliation trends points to a more significant, more detrimental pattern of decline than merely a failure to adhere to a required at least 10% tithe- teaching of and believing in sound doctrine. By now, it is evident that there is no correlation between tithing and church decline. Until recently, tithing was not prevalent in the Church and national trends point to a steady decline in Christianity overall and a rise in those with no religious affiliation at all. Tithing is not the cure of this decline. A return to sound doctrine is the cure. Remember the only command in the Great Commission is to “make disciples” not to “make tithers.” We are to do this through teaching what Jesus commanded and tithing, clearly, is not sound doctrine and not what we are to teach.
Since, there is no correlation between tithing and church decline according to national trends, there must be correlation between doctrine and church decline. Right? RIGHT! All of these trends point to one clear and undeniable truth- church decline is connected to a failure to teach sound doctrine. Giving has been historically declining and more people are non-religious. People, both in and out of the local church, are not being taught the whole counsel of God and are, as a result, believing false doctrines. Whether it is their desire to hear false doctrine or the failure of church leaders to correctly teach what was commanded there is a definite failure to hear and obey Scripture. This overall failure in sound doctrine remains the root cause of church decline, not a widespread failure to adhere to a required at least 10% tithe. No amount of tithing or giving will ever begin to address overall church decline.
Barna Group has identified a few key issues here in their study, “State of the Church 2020.” Those who read the Bible a few times a week has remained steady since 2011 but those who have never read it has jumped 10% in the last eight years. Also, those who pray on a weekly basis was 83% in 2010 but only 69% today. (“Signs of Decline & Hope Among Key Metrics of Faith.” Barna Group, www.barna.com/research/changing-state-of-the-church/)So, people are reading the Bible less and praying less than previously.
According to a group called The Benedict Option, “There is a secondary consequence of falling attendance and tithing. To attract more attendees, many churches have relaxed, altered, or worse, abandoned orthodox Christian teaching” and this “decrease of attendance, conversion, and tithing will result not only in closed churches but in a weakened orthodoxy in many churches that do manage to stay open.” (Team, BenOp Editorial. “Decline of Christianity in America.” The Benedict Option, 19 Oct. 2020, thebenedictoption.com/decline-of-christianity-in-america/) Teaching of sound doctrine is the root cause of decline.
This failure to teach sound doctrine has resulted in Christians not even being aware of the Great Commission and their role in making disciples. In 2018, the Barna Group found 51% of church attendees said they don’t know of it, 25% say it “rang a bell,” 6% say they aren’t sure they have heard it, while only 17% say they are familiar with the passage called “Great Commission.” When presented with five different Scripture passages and asked to identify the Great Commission one, nearly 37% chose correctly, 33% did not know which was right and 31% chose the wrong one. More importantly, 28% of SBC and 18% of Baptist ministers reported their last sermon on missions included the Great Commission while a mere 15% of non-mainline ministers and 6% of mainline ministers even mention the Great Commission. Barna surmised, “In other words, the degree to which an individual churchgoer is personally aware of the phrasing of the Great Commission could be explained by the degree to which their own church denomination or leader publicly references it.” (“51% Of Churchgoers Don’t Know of the Great Commission.” Barna Group, 2018. www.barna.com/research/half-churchgoers-not-heard-great-commission/) Churchgoers do not hear about the Great Commission from the pulpit and they are not reading it for themselves in the Bible itself.
The “American Worldview Inventory 2020 – At a Glance AWVI 2020 Results – Release #8: Perceptions of Sin and Salvation” by the Cultural Research Center found similarly disturbing trends confirming the result of not being taught the Great Commission is church decline. Only 49% of Christians believe that they have a “personal responsibility” to “share their religious beliefs with people who possess different religious beliefs.” This is down from 53% in 1991. Barna commented on this particular tend:
If you step back and look at the big picture painted by all of the outcomes in this research project it seems to suggest that people are in an ‘anything goes’ mindset when it comes to faith, morals, values, and lifestyle,” Barna commented. “Americans appear to be creating unique, highly customized worldviews based on feelings, experiences and opportunities rather than working within the boundaries of a comprehensive, time-tested, consistent worldview.” “If you look at some of the dominant elements in the American mind and heart today, as illuminated by the Inventory, we find that most people say that the objective of life is feeling good about yourself; that all faiths are of equal value; that entry into God’s eternal presence is determined by one’s personal means of choice; and that there are no absolutes to guide or grow us morally.
Cultural Research Center. American Worldview Inventory 2020 – At a Glance AWVI 2020 Results – Release #8: Perceptions of Sin and Salvation. Arizona Christian University, Aug. 2020, www.arizonachristian.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/AWVI-2020-Release-08-Perceptions-of-Sin-and-Salvation.pdf.
These objective failures to teach sound doctrine has detrimental effects. Ligonier Ministries and LifeWay Research’s March 2020 study, “The State of Theology,” found these unsurprising effects on the lives of both adults in general and specifically Evangelicals:
Adults
52% agree, “Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God”
48% agree, “The Bible, like all sacred writings, contains helpful accounts of ancient myths but is not literally true”
54% agree, “Religious belief is a matter of personal opinion; it is not about objective truth”
Evangelicals
30% agree, “Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God”
17% of Evangelicals agree, “Modern science disproves the Bible”
46% of Evangelicals agree, “Everyone sins a little, but most people are good by nature”
42% of Evangelicals agree, “God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam”
The State of Theology, Ligonier Ministries and LifeWay Research, Mar. 2020, thestateoftheology.com/.
The authors of this study also made a revealing conclusion about what they refer to as “widespread confusion in the United States about the Bible’s teaching”:
Evangelicals, while exhibiting some hopeful movement in the direction of biblical fidelity, also seem to be influenced by the culture’s uncertainty about what truth is, who Jesus is, and how sinners are saved. These results reveal an urgent need for clear biblical teaching on the person of Christ, the gospel of grace, and the way that the truth of God informs our ethical decisions in everyday life. There is much work to be done in this age of confusion, but we hope the findings of this survey will serve the church in its calling to reach more people with the faithful proclamation of God’s Word.
The State of Theology, Ligonier Ministries and LifeWay Research, Mar. 2020, thestateoftheology.com/.
So, nearly half of all adults believe Jesus is not God, the Bible is not true and to believe either is just your opinion. Also, far too many Evangelicals believe Jesus is not God, science is superior to the Bible, all people sin and most people are good and God accepts all religions equally. WHAT?!? Evangelicals who are consistently and rightly taught all that Jesus commanded and then believe that the Bible is both inerrant and sufficient should not believe any of this! While there will always be those who stray from the truth or refuse to follow what they know is true, these trends are both disturbing and revealing.
Reflecting on the overall decline of three of the largest denominations in America, Todd Freil relates that the SBC membership declined 435,632 in 2020, which is more than 50% higher than 2018 to 2019 and down more than 2 million during the previous 14 years, that the Methodist Church is experiencing a organizational split over theological issues and that the Presbyterian Church USA has recently lost 56,000 members and 500 churches. He makes the following warning to ministry leaders:
What’s the moral to this story? Stay the course pastor. If you’re SBC, Methodist, PCUSA- be orthodox and preach the gospel. Preach the word sufficiently and inherently and God tends to bless those churches the ones that shrink. All these denominations, they’re trying to do all these things so that they can be popular with culture. That’s what you get when you don’t follow the bible’s prescription for how you’re supposed to do church. The consequence has been they’re shrinking pastor, don’t shrink preach the word.
WretchedNetwork. “Three Major Denominations Are Shrinking. Fast. | WRETCHED RADIO.” YouTube, YouTube, 28 May 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6XUX3MM9C8, 10:26.
The warning here, “don’t shrink preach the word” reiterates Paul’s stern assertion to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:1-5:
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
Church decline is the result of a failure to preach and to seek sound doctrine rather than a a failure to adhere to a required at least 10% tithe. Dealing with decline requires a return to sound doctrine rather than a twisting of Scripture to cater to the whims of a secular audience.