According to Pew Research's findings, 28% of Americans say they have no religious affiliation – edging out evangelicals at 24% and Catholics at 23% and making them the largest faith group in the country.
Dr. Alex McFarland of Truth for a New Generation says that is statistically significant because it confirms what he has observed about America for a while: it is a post-Christian nation.
"Having a pro-Christian culture, we lost it," he laments. "We let it go by; we squandered it. So now our job is to pray for God to intervene."
The job of the Church, he asserts, has not changed.
"If you're a Christian, if you are part of the Church, our assignment from Christ is to spread the gospel and win the lost," McFarland recognizes.
According to Pew's data, most "nones" believe in God or another higher power, but very few go to religious services regularly. Most say religion does some harm, but many also think it does some good. They are not uniformly anti-religious. Most reject the idea that science can explain everything, but they express more positive views of science than religiously affiliated Americans do.
Even in the brave new world of gender confusion, race weaponization, equity, inclusion, and sexual chaos, McFarland says people still have the same needs they have had since creation.
"Cultural vacillations aside, human beings are still human beings, and all human beings desire acceptance, significance, security," the apologist notes. "These are the three felt needs that are common to all people."
Therein lies an opportunity for the Church to fulfil Christ's Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20).
"This must begin with pastors, a demographic for whom I generally have contempt," McFarland states.
Too many, he says, do not really believe that unsaved people are lost.
