Do hard times prove religion to be a crutch for those hardest hit? You might think that listening to some of the new research being publicized as of late as to why evangelical churches tend to grow during times of economic crises. In a December 13 article in the New York Times, Paul Vitello declares in his headline that “Bad Times Draw Bigger Crowds to Churches.”
. . . Since September, pastors nationwide say they have seen such a burst of new interest that they find themselves contending with powerful conflicting emotions “” deep empathy and quiet excitement “” as they re-encounter an old piece of religious lore:
Bad times are good for evangelical churches.
I don’t doubt the trend. I can remember a swell in attendance after the tragedies of September 11, 2001. I also remember the return to normalcy. I don’t doubt that those who are hardest hit by the current economic issues in our country will begin to question themselves, their values and the trajectory of their life. I say to that, “Amen.”
It’s not that I have a sense of “quiet excitement” in people’s pains. As an ordinary pastor, I’m not praying for economic disaster, political upheaval, or any increase in natural disasters. But I well know that when people place their hopes, security, joy and future in the economy, politics or the stability of our world in general, they are setting themselves up for a time of inward instability that may just make them rethink what they are ultimately living for.
Mr. Vitello’s article notes some interesting issues in American history regarding evangelical churches and economic hard times:
“Part of the evangelicals’ new excitement is rooted in a communal belief that the big Christian revivals of the 19th century, known as the second and third Great Awakenings, were touched off by economic panics. Historians of religion do not buy it, but the notion ‘has always lived in the lore of evangelism,’ said Tony Carnes, a sociologist who studies religion.
“A study last year may lend some credence to the legend. In ‘Praying for Recession: The Business Cycle and Protestant Religiosity in the United States,’ David Beckworth, an assistant professor of economics at Texas State University, looked at long-established trend lines showing the growth of evangelical congregations and the decline of mainline churches and found a more telling detail: During each recession cycle between 1968 and 2004, the rate of growth in evangelical churches jumped by 50 percent. By comparison, mainline Protestant churches continued their decline during recessions, though a bit more slowly.”
Vitello’s article further tries to define the current trend:
But why the evangelical churches seem to thrive especially in hard times is a Rorschach test of perspective.
For some evangelicals, the answer is obvious. “We have the greatest product on earth,” said the Rev. Steve Tomlinson, senior pastor of the Shelter Rock Church.
Dr. Beckworth, a macroeconomist, posited another theory: though expanding demographically since becoming the nation’s largest religious group in the 1990s, evangelicals as a whole still tend to be less affluent than members of mainline churches, and therefore depend on their church communities more during tough times, for material as well as spiritual support. In good times, he said, they are more likely to work on Sundays, which may explain a slower rate of growth among evangelical churches in nonrecession years.
I would contend that theology more than the economic stability of mainline church members has to do with the decline of these more stereotypically liberal congregations. There is really little hope in the belief system of those who abandon the centrality of Christ for the primacy of the goodwill of mankind ““ especially in a time when mankind is being shown to be so incapable. There is little stability when the validity of Scripture is denied and morality is redefined with each generation.
Biblically, a case can be made that such difficult times are often used of God to reveal to mankind the ultimate tragedy of trusting in themselves ““ especially when such trust garnered financial wealth, influential status and a powerful sense of self-worth. Didn’t God warn Israel that when their hearts grew proud and they had achieved success, difficulties would come that would draw them away from their self-sufficiency and toward the sole sufficiency of the creator and redeemer (i.e., Deuteronomy 8:11-20)? Once the godless pillars of a society’s trust have been swept away, it seems natural that they would turn their attention away from themselves and toward seeking the one who rises above it all ““ and with greater and longer satisfaction in life.
Vitello’s article provides such an example:
“Frank O’Neill, 54, a manager who lost his job at Morgan Stanley this year, said the ‘humbling experience’ of unemployment made him cast about for a more personal relationship with God than he was able to find in the Catholicism of his youth. In joining the Shelter Rock Church on Long Island, he said, he found a deeper sense of ‘God’s authority over everything “” I feel him walking with me.’
Could it be that a resurgence of God-centeredness could come in times of economic heartache, not because evangelical pastors are preying on (or praying for) economically down times, but because those hardest hit have found emptiness in what they had been trusting and for whom they had been living? Could it be that searching for Christ is more than merely a sociological trend for the lower and middle classes (if it is that at all)? Could it be that the gospel of Jesus Christ might actually be demonstrating its worth like a desert oasis in contrast to the sand-sucking attempts of mankind to find their satisfaction elsewhere, namely in themselves?
May the gospel be found wonderfully refreshing during our Sahara-like economic days.
