There will be healthy and robust discussions about the impacts of Covid-19 for years to come. There are, however, certain things that COVID-19 did not cause. For example, COVID did not cause church attendance to decline in America. From 2000 – 2020 of those individuals who are “Practicing Christians”[1] has dropped by almost half in 2020 (From 45% – 25%). The pandemic is not the culprit. Upon a closer examination of our nations faith trends we can definitely say that Covid-19 did not cause a rise in agnostics and atheism from 11% in 2003 to 21% in 2018.[2] This cross current of belief and conviction is part of the explanation of why the Christian faith is being eroded. What can be said with certainty is the cross currents of belief in our country is directly related to a decline of visible incarnation of Jesus Christ in worshippers and our decline in the study of Scriptures. COVID-19 did not cause this!
So, what has COVID-19 given us? To start with we have been the recipients of a complete pause of our daily/weekly routines. The whole world hit pause and the whole world became digital overnight. At the writing of this article we are nine (9) weeks into our national quarantine and now beginning to open up our businesses and community rhythms. We have had plenty of time to think, reflect, and pray. The initial question that arose early in this quarantine was, “How will I do what I was doing post COVID?” The data points that I have used in the previous paragraph are not new in the church world. The real challenge has been are we going to pay attention to it. So, the real question becomes, “How am I going to change so that I can do what I was doing before COVID-19”? There is a fast difference between these two questions. The first question assumes that in fact we will be able to keep doing what we were doing. The second question is more introspective. It challenges how am I going to change so that I can do what I was doing before the pandemic. The outcome will be drastically different. The sound of the sermons and the urgency of calling to action will be very different post COVID.
The downside to survey data points is that it cannot give us the “HOW” or “WHY” regarding a specific issue. It simply reports what is trending over a period of time. The impact of this data will change from community to community. However, what is inescapable is that Christianity’s impact is slowly deteriorating. YES, there are a number of “bright-lights” nationally that give us great hope. However, at the community level is where the real impact of the gospel is lived out.
1 Chronicles 12:32 has become a global rallying cry; “Of the sons of Issachar, men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do….” NASB.
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[1] Practicing Christians identify as Christian, agree strongly that faith is very important in their lives and have attended church within the past month. https://barna.gloo.us/article/signs-of-decline–hope-among-key-metrics-of-faith1?orgId=16976014-8300-11ea-9565-fff0c2ddc1e4&locId=16c4027c-8300-11ea-9565-0f4d91ce547e. ACCESSED 21 May, 2020.
[2] https://www.barna.com/rise-of-atheism/. ACCESSED 21 May, 2020.
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