In the End God Wins

A December 2016 study by the Gallup organization confirms what most of us already knew from our own experience — fewer Americans are giving to religious causes.

The percentage of Americans donating financially at least annually to religious causes has dropped from a high of 64 percent in 2005 to 52 percent in 2017.

At the same time, the percentage of Americans giving to secular charities has been practically steady — 76 percent in 2005 to 75 percent in 2017.

Again, the results are not surprising. News stories of past years have repeatedly highlighted the growth of the religious category called “nones” — people with no religious preference. In fact, Gallup points out the 12-point decline in those making charitable donations to religious causes between 2005 and 2017 “mirrors the 11-point decline in the percentage of Americans who say they are a member of a church or synagogue.”

In 2005, 64 percent of Americans reported membership in a church or synagogue. In 2017 that percentage was just over half, Gallup said. That decline in membership was expected to express itself in declines in other areas such as financial support.

Volunteer work

In addition to giving money, Americans support religious causes through volunteering. Even there the news is not good. In 2003 the percentage of Americans who said they volunteered for a religious cause was 42 percent. In 2017 that percentage was 44 percent, demonstrating only slight growth over 14 years.

During the same time frame, Gallup found the percentage of Americans volunteering with secular charities had increased from 43 percent to 51 percent. That is a growth rate four times that of religious causes.

When Gallup sorted survey participants by age, income, education and religious preference, support for donating to charities and volunteering was strong in every category. Interestingly, the religious “nones” volunteered time with a charity less than Protestant or Catholic participants. Protestants volunteered at a rate of 70 percent, Catholics 61 percent and nones 51 percent.

Strong culture

Obviously America has a strong culture of helping others that grows out of the biblical emphasis of caring for one’s “neighbor.” Helping those beyond one’s immediate circle of family and friends is not a trait common to cultures untouched by the Christian gospel.

Personal experience also confirms what the Gallup study found. While some churches continue to defy the trends, most denominations, including Southern Baptists and Alabama Baptists, are experiencing falling membership, declining giving and less participation generally.

The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) reported its highest membership total in 2008. That year membership stood at just over 16 million. Eight years later that number had dropped by more than a million.

The Alabama Baptist State Convention reported its highest total membership in 2003 — 1,131,854. In 2016 total membership stood at 946,714 — a 16.4 percent decline.

Calculating worship attendance in Alabama Baptist churches based on the state’s percentage of SBC membership, between 325,000–350,000 people worship in Alabama Baptist-related churches on any given Sunday. The number participating in Bible study or small group activities sponsored by churches is about two-thirds of that total.

Fewer total members and less participation in worship are good predictors that giving is declining. As a result, churches have had less to give.

Alabama Baptists reached their highest Cooperative Program (CP) receipts in 2008, a total of $44,782,408. During the next eight years Alabama CP receipts slowly declined until 2016 when receipts reached $38,770.875 — a 13.8 percent decrease from 2008.

Again, the numbers say what most know intuitively. These have been difficult years for churches, conventions and missions and ministries of every sort. As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “We are hard-pressed on every side but not crushed …” (2 Cor. 4:8).

Alabama Baptists still have almost 950,000 church members. That is almost 20 percent of the state’s population and the largest religious group in Alabama by far. We still have nearly 350,000 people gathered for worship any given Sunday and more than 200,000 in Bible study.

Southern Baptists still have more than 15.2 million members and cooperating churches receive more than $9.2 billion in undesignated receipts.

Church members are still caring for others in Jesus’ name as they reflect God’s love and mercy into every area of life and every area of the world.

With the Apostle Paul we declare, “Therefore, we do not lose heart. … We fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen” (2 Cor. 4:16, 18).

We look toward that day promised in Isaiah 45:23 when God said, “As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before Me; every tongue will confess to God.”

Name above all names

That promise forms the background of the Apostle Paul’s words recorded in Philippians 2:9–11, when he wrote, “Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. To the glory of God the Father.”

So we take seriously Gallup’s findings. We are informed by denominational statistics but we keep our focus on what is yet to be. In the end God wins. Glory be to God!