An Honest Look at What’s Gone Wrong in Simple Terms
According to Pew Research, Christians make up by far the largest religious group in North America, with religiously unaffiliated individuals forming the next biggest segment. Despite Christianity’s prominence, religious service attendance varies widely among Americans. About one-third of U.S. adults report attending religious services in person at least once a month, with 25% saying they go at least once a week. In contrast, a significant majority—67%—attend religious services only a few times a year or even less frequently. This includes roughly half of all U.S. adults who say they seldom or never attend church services, highlighting the diversity in religious practice and engagement across the country.1
There’s no easy way to say this, but it’s important: the church, as a whole, has not done a great job at making true disciples of Jesus in recent times. If you look around, it’s obvious that something is off. Let’s break down what’s really happening, without all the fancy language.
Missing the Main Message
The heart of Christianity is the gospel—the good news about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, and what that means for each of us. Yet, many churches spend more time talking about everything else except this main message. Instead of focusing on solid teaching about sin, grace, mercy, and commitment to Christ, the spotlight often shifts to other things like politics, race, or personal success.
Lack of Sound Teaching
Sound doctrine simply means teaching what the Bible actually says, not just what we want it to say or what makes us feel good. When churches water down these teachings or skip over the hard truths, people don’t get the full picture of what it means to follow Jesus. This leaves many with only a shallow understanding of their faith.
Commitment and Trust Are Missing
Following Jesus is supposed to be a life-long journey—a commitment that shapes everything we do. But too often, the message is that you can have all the benefits without any of the hard work. There’s little talk about trusting God through tough times or sticking with your faith even when it’s not easy.
Replacing the Gospel with Other Agendas
Instead of preaching Jesus, some churches focus on things like nationalism (putting country above faith), race, or prosperity (the idea that God just wants to make you rich and successful). These distractions can make the church look more like a club for certain groups or a self-help seminar, rather than a place to know and follow Jesus.
Cheap Grace: The Easy Way Out
Cheap grace is the idea that you can get God’s forgiveness without really changing your life or taking your sin seriously. When this becomes the main message, it makes Christianity seem easy and empty—something you add to your life, not something that transforms you from the inside out.
The Result: A Weak Church
Because of all this, the body of Christ—the church—has become weak. When we lose sight of the real gospel, stop teaching sound doctrine, and settle for cheap grace, we stop producing true disciples. Instead, we get crowds who are more interested in comfort, prosperity, or fitting in, rather than following Jesus no matter the cost.
Where Do We Go from Here?
The solution isn’t complicated, but it does require honesty and a return to the basics. We need to preach the gospel clearly, teach the truth even when it’s hard, and encourage real commitment and trust in Christ. Only then can the church become strong again, filled with people who know Jesus, love others, and make a real difference in the world.
Minister A Francine Green
September 2025
Notes:
Smith, G. A. (2025, February 26). Religious Landscape Study. Retrieved September 30, 2025, from https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/06/09/religion-north-america/
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