Roger Wohletz
November 2006
From
the Pastor
At the Altamont Zone Rally of the LWML in September, Rev. Joel Cluver,
the Mission Executive of our Central Illinois District, gave a rather
interesting and somber presentation. Pastor
Cluver discussed the current state of Christianity in the United States and the
world. According to recent studies,
Fayette County has one of the lowest rates for church membership in Illinois.
Only about 40% of the people living in our county belong to a church.
(Effingham County, by the way, had one of the highest rates, with about
65% of the people there belonging to a church).
We also learned that no county in the United States has seen an increase
in church membership over the last few decades.
Christianity in the United States continues a slow but steady decline.
But our country is not alone. Canada,
Australia, and Western Europe all have declining rates of church membership and
attendance. The good news is that
the rest of the world Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America
are seeing an increase in the number of Christians.
There are a number of conclusions that we can draw from this data.
First, we are living in the mission field.
No longer does a Christian have to go overseas to find a large number of
unbelievers. Now just step out of
your door, go to work or school or Wal-Mart, and you will be surrounded by lots
and lots of people who never come to church and who only have the fuzziest of
notions about the Bible and Jesus Christ. God
will give all of us plenty of opportunities to invite others to come to His
church to hear His Word.
Secondly, there is an interesting connection between wealth and faith.
Notice that the wealthiest areas of the world Canada, Australia, the
United States, and Western Europe are also the areas where Christianity is
declining. But the poorer areas
Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America are seeing a dramatic growth
in Christianity.
As we approach Thanksgiving, we properly and rightly thank God for all
the gifts He has given us. And He
has abundantly shed material prosperity upon us.
We are blessed with a physical standard of living that is far above most
others in our world. Even those we
consider poor in our country would be considered wealthy in other lands.
Yet, we should also pray that this material wealth not become a curse.
Like is happening throughout all the prosperous regions of the world, we
can let our money and our stuff become so important to us that we lose
sight of God and His Word. Such is
the irony of our country; we are so physically rich, yet we remain so
spiritually poor.
So again this Thanksgiving, we give thanks to God that He has given us
the greatest gift of all the gift of forgiveness and salvation in our
Savior, Jesus Christ.
In
His Name,
Pastor Wohletz