Is Anybody Out There?

Today I received a message from a young man who said that Christianity was just draining the life out of him because he tried to force himself to believe in Christ. This is sad but I'm afraid many men today are searching for Christ but don't seem to find him. Why is that? Are Christians today failing as witnesses for Christ? There is a book called "Why men hate going to Church", I have not read it but many men do hate to go to church. Why? What do we do?

The following data is from: www.churchformen.com

• "The typical U.S. Congregation draws an adult crowd that’s 61% female, 39% male. This gender gap shows up in all age categories.

• On any given Sunday there are 13 million more adult women than men in America’s churches.

• This Sunday almost 25 percent of married, churchgoing women will worship without their husbands.

• Midweek activities often draw 70 to 80 percent female participants.

• The majority of church employees are women (except for ordained clergy, who are overwhelmingly male).

• As many as 90 percent of the boys who are being raised in church will abandon it by their 20th birthday. Many of these boys will never return.

• More than 90 percent of American men believe in God, and five out of six call themselves Christians. But only two out of six attend church on a given Sunday. The average man accepts the reality of Jesus Christ, but fails to see any value in going to church.

• A significant number of churchgoing men attend out of habit, unaffected by what they hear.

• Quite a few men go to church simply to keep their wives/mothers/girlfriends happy.

• The majority of men who attend church do nothing during the week to grow their faith.

• Relatively few churches are able to establish or maintain a vibrant men’s ministry."

A successful business person once said, “Your system is perfectly designed to give you the results you’re getting.”

Does the Word of God need to change? No, of course not, it was effective when it was written and is still effective today. So maybe the church needs to change or maybe, just maybe we are the ones needing a transformation. We do need to pray for our churches today. Look around your congregation, who's there, who's missing? Why are people leaving the church?

I have been doing some soul searching myself. I don't have all the answers but I hope this blog will cause people to think about their walk with the Lord. I pray that we will ask ourselves difficult questions. What are we doing to win others to the Lord? What are we doing to strengthen our relationship with Christ? If we do not want to go to church, what is the reason?

Wherever you are in your walk with Christ, whether your male or female, do not get discouraged. If your walk with the Lord is not moving forward then it is stagnant. Read the Word, pray and ask God for wisdom. Jesus is listening. I will be praying for you.