Based on past studies of those who avoid Christian churches, one of the driving forces behind such behavior is the painful experiences endured within the local church context. In fact, one Barna study among unchurched adults shows that nearly four out of every ten non-churchgoing Americans (37%) said they avoid churches because of negative past experiences in churches or with church people.
Bestselling author Stephen Mansfield has written a new book (ReChurch) that digs into those experiences. As one who has been wounded by past church behavior, Mansfield encourages those who have been hurt by the local church to overcome that pain and suffering ”“ if not in response to a biblical command or for the benefit of the church, then for their own healing and maturation.
Citing numerous examples, Mansfield notes that God uses people’s pain ”“ and their own immaturity, in some cases ”“ to reshape us. There is no denying that many churchgoers get wounded by the insensitive or ignorant actions of others in the church. Mansfield points out, though, that those instances are opportunities for us to love others who, like ourselves, are simply “flawed sinners.” Fleeing from the source of pain and suffering, rather than addressing and overcoming it, leaves us wounded and bitter, and does nothing to enhance our lives or those of the people responsible for that suffering.
The solution, according to Mansfield, is forgiveness….
Personally, I find little surprising here. My own anedotal evidence tends to confirm the findings from this Barna Group survey, among the “unchurched” there are lots of [b]DE-churched[/b] folks out there who were once very involved in church life, but have been burned somehow. They may have been hurt, let down, or alienated in all kinds of ways, some of which may have nothing to do with the church leadership and their integrity (or lack of it), policies, etc., but they’ve been deeply wounded nonetheless. The Barna Group estimates that 37% of the “unchurched” are church drop-outs who’ve been badly hurt by past experiences. That seems about right to me, roughly a third or more.
And about half that group, some 18%, claim to be “born again” and to have a valued “personal relationship with Jesus that’s still important in their life today.” They would seem to be an especially receptive group, if they were approached the right way and treated appropriately, so as gradually to rebuild their trust.
But this report still shows that there are also hordes of people out there who don’t make any claim to be Christian either. And with 28% of American adults having not attended church in at least six months or more, some 65 MILLION Americans, that makes for countless opportunities for genuine evangelism, and not just for winning back straying sheep with authentic pastoral care and a church life that is healthy and has integrity.
David Handy+
It’s also worth noting that estimates of the “unchurched” population and its makeup can differ widely. For example, “the Anglican Mission” or AMiA commonly bandies around a figure that’s twice as high as the Barna Group estimate. The Barna figure is 65 million ADULT Americans, or about 100 million Americans when you include their kids. The usual figure talked about in AMiA circles is “the 130 million” (presumably including children). I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the latter isn’t closer to the truth. The Barna surveys are based on unverified self-reporting, and my hunch is that many people still hesitate to describe themselves as going to church as seldom as they actually do.
Of course, things are FAR better in the US than in more secular Canada, and much, much better than in neo-pagan Europe, which is in a far worse spiritual state. But we certainly have our work cut out for us as Christians, in terms of fulfilling the Great Commission. As always, [i]”the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.”[/i]
David Handy+
Another good take on this, particularly about the “de-churched” group, is one of Julia Duin’s newer offerings [url=http://www.amazon.com/Quitting-Church-Faithful-Fleeing-about/dp/0801068231]”Quitting Church”[/url]
Speaking from pastoral experience, the difficulty here is that pain is a preemptive category, awarding the person a prized victim status. Result: I take no responsibility for my pain and I blame the church. This is not to say that there aren’t true victims. But responding to the pain involves challenging the person to make a positive commitment now, which often turns out to be the nub of the real difficulty.