The Irony of Falling Church Numbers

There are many causes for young who grew up in the church but leave it. Some causes the church has no control over. For example, if a young person takes science courses and decides to believe science instead of myths the church cannot do much.

But, there are some variables the church controls. If the faith were managed rationally, it would weigh the costs and benefits of alternative strategies. It would only put its future at risk for some cause that is central to its mission or its core beliefs.

That's where the irony comes in. The issue much of the church has chosen as the one it will stand and fight to the last man is one that has little do to with what it claims to believe. The issue that hurts churches the most with young people is one that was given no importance in the Bible. It is the gay issue.

I've expressed my theory that the gay-is-sin issue hurts church numbers more than any of its other buffoonery. A recent article confirms my suspicions. The author concludes that among the several reasons young people might give for leaving their parent's faith the gay-is-sin most drives a spike into the heart of believing.

If the conservative branch of the faith had to ability to take the long view of its interests it would take to heart the old cliche, "The future belongs to the young." Unfortunately, thinking in a strategic way is not an option available to the faith.

The God people carry around in the heads does not exist elsewhere. Neither do the various issues that God is supposed to advocate. When people who do not like gays say the God in their heads tells them gays are sinners that makes them sinners. What they themselves want their God to say is more important than the future of the faith.