Half of Churchgoers don't know what the Great Commission and that sums up the American Church

When asked if they had “heard of the Great Commission,” half of U.S. churchgoers (51%) say they do not know this term.

To be fair the term Great Commission isn't technically in the Bible.  The Great Commission refers to Jesus instructing his disciples (then and now) to go out into all of the world and become disciple-makers.

Matthew 28:19

19 Go [a]therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

This was disheartening to read but not surprising. American Christianity has become a cesspool of marketing, political idolatry, and teaching the gospel of self.

After the fiasco that was 2020 in the evangelical world, we should be concerned, repentant, and ready to get to work to not only teach The Great Commission but to actually live it out.  It's time for our churches to leave marketing, branding, and politics behind and to pick up our Bibles once again to teach our churches the Word of God.

Age also makes a significant difference in whether churchgoers recognize the Great Commission. More than one-quarter of Elders (29%) and Boomers (26%) says they know the text, compared to 17 percent of Gen X and one in 10 Millennials (10%).(Source Barna Group)

As a Millennial who works in Young Adult ministry and is familiar with the teaching that is popular, I was not at all surprised to read that only 10% of Millennials knew what the Great Commission was.

A sermon series about Going out into the world and disciples wouldn't sell as many books as one about how to get a man, how to make money, or how to raise your self-esteem BUT it would save souls.

The state of the American Church

No matter what side of the political aisle you were on, as a believer the 2020 election was so disheartening. From the false prophecies to voting turning into a test of fellowship, it's going to take a long time to recover from that fiasco.

The 2020 Election was not a good look for the political party that calls itself evangelical.  The worst were the numerous "prophecies" that Donald Trump was going to win a second term.  

YouTube Prophets like Marcus Rogers were adamant that God told him Donald Trump was going to win re-election and then denied he ever said it when it did not come to pass.  Some like Paula White and Dutch Sheets doubled down and held prayer meetings to reverse the results to no avail. Jeremiah Johnson who also incorrectly prophesied a Trump victory resigned from his ministry.

Watching this all unfold, I was angry, annoyed, frustrated, and disappointed to see people I liked and respected engaging in all of this nonsense.  

It was embarrassing and shameful to watch Christians acting as if Donald Trump was going to be the one to prevent the gates of hell from prevailing against the church.  Jesus doesn't need politicians protecting his church.  He has it handled.

Anecdotally I have seen on many social media posts that the election was the final straw for many believers when it came to attending church. They were not going to attend a church where there was more talk about politics than Jesus and many were appalled at the Donald Trump love fests.

Politics isn't the only problem that the American Church is facing right now. Preacher Personality cults are also an issue. 

Every Sunday there seems to be a new gimmick in the pulpit with a cool preacher giving em the old razzle-dazzle.  It is what it is but while out here doing all these theatrics and getting views do the folks watching know the gospel message of the scriptures or do they know the platitudes of a motivational speaker?

A Mass Exodus 

Gallup released polling data in 2021 showing that less than 50% of Americans report belonging to a faith community. Back in 1970, when Gallup first began tracking this data, more than 70% of Americans belonged to religious communities (Source: Gallup)

We can sit around and pretend there's not a mass exodus happening in our churches but that would be denying reality.  

It's also time to face facts: Coffee hours, Gimmicky Sermon Series, Preachers in Tight Pants and Shirts, and "Cool" Music aren't keeping the people in the church. In fact, I think that stuff is a distraction and gets old really fast.

We're in the middle of the biggest upheavals in a generation with a pandemic, economic uncertainty, civil unrest, and general uncertainty.  I believe there is more craziness to come setting the stage for a major revival.

For the remnant that remains in the church, we have to prepare and be ready to minister when the craziness goes down.  Ain't nobody gonna be worried about razzle-dazzle and hype then.  They're going to be calling on the name of the Lord.

People have just replaced religion with other stuff...

This is a favorite topic on Twitter but while people have disdained religion, they've just replaced it with Politics and Social Justice.  Some on Twitter have even discussed people even turned Covid into a religion:  

Sinners (Those who think we should go for a harm reduction approach) 

Saints (Those who believe we can never be too careful)  

Great high priests (the only experts we must listen to)

Martyrdom (Never leaving the house but letting the poor people do everything for you)

With Social Justice, there are the leaders of organizations (the pastors) who pocket all the money and run off with it without any benefit to the congregation.

People will take anything and try to fill the God-sized void in their lives but ultimately it's not going to work.

I believe America is due for a Wake-Up call and we will once again be calling on the name of The Lord. 

With that in mind, as the church, we must go back to basics and simply preach the gospel

Simply Preach the Gospel

As a fitness trainer, there are certain fundamentals with exercise that I have to teach clients before we go into anything more advanced. 

The same is true for us as believers.  We need to teach our members the fundamentals. I'm talking real fundamental.

We need to SIMPLY PREACH THE GOSPEL

• We all need a Savior because we simply cannot do this on our own
• Jesus is the Son of God
• He came to the Earth as a man to show us how to live and be offered as a sacrifice for our sin and so that we won't be separated from God
• He was crucified
• He rose again on the 3rd Day
• He is alive
• He is coming back again
• We are to be advancing the Kingdom of God here on Earth
• If you believe that Jesus is Lord, then you will be saved
• We are baptized in water and in the Holy Spirit
• We pray, fast, and seek him daily
• We are created to worship with our entire lives
• We are to live in community with other believers and make disciples
• The Holy Spirit is our advocate, intercessor, guide, and produces fruit in our life
• We will all be judged at the end of our life and the Final Judgment

I get this isn't going to sell many T-shirts or provide fodder for the next stunt in the pulpit but the American church needs to go back to basics.

We can start by teaching the words of Jesus and most importantly LIVING them. 

Let's teach and live out The Great Commission

Matthew 28:19

19 Go [a]therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,