Are people actually throwing away the Bible as polls suggest?

 If you ever check polling groups like Gallup, or Pew Research, you'll see what looks to be a declining belief in the Bible.

I won't go through the actual numbers here because they're available on those sites. There is also no shortage of articles from church writers lamenting the data.

The last couple of weeks I've been reading a lot of data on these polls and I think the churches are missing something, here are the basic ideas from the polls.

1 There's a drop in people believing the Bible is the literal word of God, 

2 There's a major drop in regular church attendance of all denominations,

3 There's an increase in the amount of people that believe the Bible is valuable but a man-made thing,

4 And there is an increase in people considering themselves to not have a specific religion.

I've read several different articles on this subject, including one today from CGI's Mike James.

Here's what I think they're missing.

The total number of people that Identify as Christian/religious is not very volatile, what seems to be changing is the belief in the 'inerrant' and 'literal' nature of the Bible and the validity of the current religious establishment.

I've been paying close attention to the situation for the last two years, and I'm absolutely convinced we are in the early stages of a second enlightenment. Catholics, Protestants and Non-denominational groups are all experiencing a similar problem of not so much 'mass exodus' as 'mass questioning'. There are prominent individuals in all sects raising very serious questions about the validity of their theological traditions and organizations.

There is a MASSIVE rise in study-groups and personal ministries that are referring to themselves in polls as 'nones' (no church affiliation) because they are breaking away from organized religion to study the Bible and evangelize on their own. I happen to frequent a coffee shop in Longview Texas, where a dozen or so of such groups, usually men in their mid 20s to late 30s gather every day to discuss the Bible and Christian living.

The key part of the polls to me is the idea of 'literal' word of God, which is a subject I'm personally buggy about because The Bible we have in English isn't "the literal word of God"... that's obviously an argument of semantics and terms, but the 20yo-40yo demographics are anything but stupid and the lies they've grown up with (Santa Claus, Easter, oppressive church governments, abuses etc.) give them valid reason to question things like the semantic argument of the bible being the 'literal word of God'.
(The mere fact of varied translations argues against the word literal, not to mention the fact that The Bible, nor any of it's authors claim to be inerrant.)

So, while the numbers may look like a drastic drop of people believing in the God of the Bible, it's not exactly what is happening.

I think the ecumenical movement from the 2000s, stemming in large part from 9/11 has petered out for good, and in some ways, good riddance because it only gave us mega-churches and a new generation of prosperity doctrine con-men. That being said, there is now a real 'grass roots' movement afoot that's comprised of young men searching for a personal understanding of what and who God is. I really hope they don't get swindled by organized religion, (which is a probable outcome) but if they can avoid that I expect we'll all see this movement become public and be named in the not to distant future. I hope they don't get labelled with a recycled identity like ecumenicalism, but only time will tell.

As a word of fair warning to any church leader who encounters them or sees them growing within your own ranks. Much like 1 Kings 12 where Jeroboam confronts Rehoboam;
When you see these people and this movement appear for your own sake, do not deal harshly with them or treat them the way that churches have acted in the past, they do not want your dogma, they do not want your arguments from authority, and they certainly aren't interested in your church, they're looking for God. If you engage with this demographic they will be open to learning and discussion, though probably not in our traditional church format, so you'll have to get creative. If you don't, there are very few under 40s in any Christian church at the moment and no growth-rate able to fix that.

Jordan Peterson has a very apt video statement that covers this issue from a slightly different perspective, I would suggest you watch it. It's titled, 'A Message to Christian Churches' and it's on YouTube. He comes at it from a social perspective, but the content is just as valuable in the religious view. If the job of the church is to preach, you have to preach where the people are.

Seth - 7/14/22