How Evangelicalism Destroyed The Mission Of The Church

For most of American history, the primary mission of The Church has been care work, largely because most churches were largely comprised of women. According to Pew Research, women comprised a whopping 70% of Black churches, and according to the National Congregations Study, until 2019, women made up 60% of all churches nationally. Until recently, most men in churches were there because they were the husbands or sons of faithful women. Research shows that most men will leave church in their late teens and never return, unless perhaps they marry a woman who makes them.

In the 1940’s and 50’s, however, a young preacher by the name of Billy Graham began filling entire stadiums full of people eager to hear him preach. It wasn’t long before he became a household name, and I think it’s fair to say he became something of a “religious rock star.” It’s probably not a coincidence that as Graham’s popularity rose, so did church attendance.

Although church attendance prior to that time varied greatly by region, time and denomination, roughly one-third of Americans were regular churchgoers during almost any time period prior to 1950’s. By the 1950’s and 60’s nearly 70% of Americans identified as regular churchgoers. There could be many reasons for this, but its a safe bet that at least some of that growth was due to new converts flooding into churches, eager to hear more of Graham’s style of dynamic preaching.

But hearing the gospel and living it are two different things, By the 1970’s and 80’s, church attendance began to decline, and by the 2000’s, only around 32% of the population claimed to attend church regularly. Around 2004, a relatively unknown pastor by the name of Mark Driscoll learned about a new emerging medium called podcasting.

His belligerent, misogynistic brand of Christianity appealed deeply to men, and, thanks to podcasting, it wasn’t long before his message was being spread to churches far and wide. Driscoll’s brand of Christianity had far less to do with caring for your neighbor and far more to do with wielding power in your own home. A message that caught on with men like wildfire.

Driscoll also founded the Acts 29 Network, whose sole mission was to “seed-plant” new churches. This rarely involved going into an unchurched area and cultivating a new community, it was generally accomplished by simply opening a new church in an already “well-churched” area and pulling in what few men were attending other churches. This gave rise to a multitude of new “non-denominational” churches that were largely free of any sort of oversight or accountability.

It shouldn’t really come as a big surprise that Billy Graham likely had a huge impact on an entire generation of young men who wanted to replicate his success. And this is where the shift suddenly began to move from a focus on service to evangelism, particularly in Acts 29 churches. The only service men were compelled to do was “lead” in their own homes, which was sufficiently vague as to keep them from having to actually do anything.

This was particularly problematic to women, who had largely been the ones doing most of the service, which was now being de-emphasized in favor of preaching, speaking, teaching or leading (which was now being called “evangelizing”), which women were also being told they were not allowed to do.

But this is also the “beauty” of “evangelism” and why it is so compelling- particularly to men. Because they are literally not required to do anything. “Evangelism” is just “preaching the gospel,” which means all you have to do to be an “evangelist” is go out and preach at people. Remember, however, that thanks to podcasting, this is a message that has spread far outside of the church walls, and draws in men from far and wide.

The problem, however, is this.

People have needs.

Eventually, people will experience loss.

The loss of a job, a home, a spouse, a loved one, and an “evangelical” church is not equipped to deal with real-world issues like loss and need.

Much like Graham’s revivals, these churches created an “emotional” experience through dynamic preaching and upbeat choirs, which later morphed into the worship band. Numerous studies, both formal and informal, have been conducted regarding the neurological connection between a “worship music experience” and an “encounter with the divine.”

The primary goal of Evangelical mega-churches is to fill seats with bodies and give them an emotional experience that then (hopefully) leads to them giving money to the church. Since evangelical churches eliminate most services to the community, most of that money ends up in the pockets of the pastor, senior leadership and/ or the elder board. Yes, that’s right, church elder boards are allowed to take salaries, which, in some cases, can be more than their salaries for their full-time jobs. Although there are theoretically legal guidelines as to just how large these salaries can be, most non-profits are constrained by the fact that if they pay their board members improperly, they can lose their non-profit status. I think it’s fair to say, churches have no such concerns.

Although mega-churches often offer a wide range of services to their own community, such as youth groups, low-cost childcare or sports leagues, these services cost the church very little, since they are usually staffed by volunteers or people that do the work as a “service” and therefore expect little pay. Or, when they do actually try to ask for more pay, they are reminded that their work is a “service to God” (which senior staff just happens to be profiting richly from.)

But how do you keep people coming back? Well, it’s pretty simple, really. There are basically five elements that lock people in and keep them coming back for more.

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Music not only primes us for an “encounter with the divine” but it also primes us for social bonding. In a world that is increasingly fractured, that offers a powerful pull. This is perhaps particularly powerful for men who are primed to believe they suffer more from loneliness, even though actual data shows otherwise.

There is a reason why almost every church will have people greet their neighbors, hug, shake hands (make physical contact) just after the “worship” time, when churchgoers have been primed for “bonding”

There is a careful science involved in crafting the perfect massage to keep people (particularly men) coming back week after week. It involves just enough rebuke to make you feel the tiniest spark of guilt, carefully balanced with a generous sprinkling of reminders that, as flawed as you are, you are still better than “those sinners” over there. Favorite targets include, of course, “godless liberals,” the LGBTQ community, prostitutes or immoral women, men who are lazy, refuse to work, or are not “good leaders” and now, of course, illegal immigrants. The guilt, of course, becomes fuel to “do better,” which keeps you coming back for more, because clearly, if you are constantly motivated to “do better” then surely you will eventually be better, right?

Mark Driscoll, of course, took a slightly different tack. Rather than a mild rebuke, he opted for a full-on attack, while keeping his list of offenses purposefully vague. The most prevalent one being “you aren’t man enough” or you aren’t “stepping up and being a man.” What that actually meant or how you were failing to “be a man” was never made clear, but boy, was it motivating and men ate it up. Often at the expense of women.

Theoretically, the idea of small groups is that they are where you can get to know people one-on-one and have deeper, more meaningful discussions. The problem is that in these groups, people generally keep their “church faces” on, so they are rarely having the kind of deep, soul-revealing discussions that actually create meaningful change.

A man might admit to not being kind to his wife, but will rarely admit to staying up all night looking at porn or fantasizing about having sex with one of the teenage girls at church. A woman may admit to not being as patient with her kids as she would like, but she is unlikely to admit that she drinks every day or is addicted to Oxy.

Recovery groups have a saying that you are only as sick as your secrets. Small groups rarely do much to reveal or heal our deepest diseases because they rarely encourage the kind of secret-revealing that fosters healing, nor do they create the kind of environment of safety necessary for such revelations. They are like a tray of hors d’ouvers to a group of ravenously starving people.

Most mega-churches will offer a full program of activities, with a pet cause or two for good measure. Activities can include sports leagues, camps, retreats, workshops, seminars, potlucks, dinners and a host of other offerings to keep your calendar full and living inside the church walls. The “pet causes” will usually be non-profits they work with, The “cause” costs them nothing, but they supply live bodies as volunteers. Then, when someone comes at them and accuses them of not fulfilling the actual mission of Jesus and caring for the community, they can point to the many activities they offer as caring for their internal community and the work of the non-profit of evidence of outreach into the larger community.

The goal is keep you as busy with church and church-related activities as possible. This is by design, because if you ever start to question their motives or their doctrine, you don’t just lose a “church,” you literally lose your entire social life. Further, the goal is that if you have friends that you miss because you are so busy with church activities, you will start inviting them to church events just to see them, in hopes that they too will become “plugged in.”

Mega-churches are the Walmarts of the church world. They aren’t actually creating thousands of new converts; they are simply pulling people from dozens of smaller churches, who then often have to shutter their doors. When people finally decide to get off the roller-coaster of mega-churches (or are thrown out when they begin to question how the mission of the mega-church actually aligns with the mission of Jesus) there are fewer and fewer small churches for them to return to. If they even choose to return to church at all, which they often don’t because they are so burnt out and wrung out after their mega-church experience.

Although mega-churches are the worst offenders when it comes to the shift from a focus on service to “evangelicalism,” even small, mainline or progressive churches are not immune to the disease, thanks to podcasts that spread the message far and wide. Our churches have become infected with the disease of evangelicalism, and they will not be healed until we return to the actual mission of the church, which is to care for the poor, heal the sick, visit the prisoner and invite in the stranger. We might just have to lose the buildings to do it.