Does God Matter?

Most of the people in our community would confirm that they do indeed believe in God.

However, for most of our community, this belief seems to have little day to day impact on our lives.

Did you know that in Winston (population approx 5.500) there are over one dozen churches. Across America, according to a Gallup Poll only 30% of adults attend any church even a month. I don’t have specific statsitics for our community, but my instinct tells me of the 5,500 people in Winston – and the nearly 15,000 people residing in the Winston-Dillard School district – less than 30% of adults attend any church regularly.

Of course I’m biased! I am a pastor and I serve one of those dozen or more churches in the city limits of Winston. I’d like to see the building filled with adults, teens, and children every Sunday morning!

Maybe instead of asking people which church they attend (or don’t attend) let’s ask: Does God Matter?

What do we mean when we agree with the statement: I believe in God.

For some, it means they have a sense of a creator/designer that made the world and in some vague and undefinable way gives purpose and meaning to life.

Others would agree, Yes, there is a God, but He/She is too distant to really matter in day to day life on any level.

Yet others hold to a view that there is a Supreme Being whose sole purpose is to punish wrongdoing and to prohibit, or limit most activities that we find enjoyable.

Then there are those who believe in a multitude of gods and goddesses. These individuals are deeply spiritual. There is a sense of wonder in their lives. These people need to satisfy these gods and goddesses so that as individuals they will experience success and fulfillment and that their families. They rely on their gods/goddesses to insure their descendants will experience the blessing and propserity.

Most of the people in my region would describe God as a benevolent father figure who is interested in the well being of people in general. They recognize God as a Supreme Being who is marginally involved in the day to day activities of life.

Recent survey’s indicate somewhere around 75% of American adults believe in God. Over half of those adults are firm in their conviction and have little doubt as to God’s existence.

2022 Theology Survey

In the 2022 State of Theology study, Lifeway Research and Ligonier Ministries surveyed both Christians and non-Christians on their understanding of basic Christian theology, the essential beliefs that define who is a Christian and who is not. The results among non-Christians were predictably dismal, but it’s the results among professing Christians that are particularly alarming. Consider just a few of the findings:

God learns and adapts to different circumstances: 48% of evangelicals agree
Everyone is born innocent in the eyes of God: 65%of evangelicals agree
God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam: 56% of evangelicals agree
Jesus was a great teacher, but He was not God: 43% of evangelicals agree (up from 30% in 2020)

(https://research.lifeway.com/2023/07/19/5-foundations-of-right-theology/)

Nearly half of adults who call themselves evangelical believe God learns and adapts to different situations? Is this the God of whom the psalmist sang:

“Long ago You established the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You will endure; all of them will wear out like clothing. You will change them like a garment, and they will pass away. But You are the same, and Your years will never end.” (Psalm 102:25–27, HCSB)

Is this the same God of whom James (the step-brother of Jesus – born of Mary and Jospeh) said:

“Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights; with Him there is no variation or shadow cast by turning.” (James 1:17, HCSB)

In a recent message (availabe via the links on our website) I quoted a passage from Trevin Wax, the vice-president of research and resource development of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention from his newest book:

Amid chaos and confusion, we can easily turn our focus on ourselves and forget God. It’s as if we have inherited a vast estate – sprawling grounds surrounding beautiful buildings filled with precious heirlooms – but we stay cooped up in a broom closet, complacent and bored, with no desire to explore all that we’ve been given in Christ. (Trevin Wax, The Thrill of Orthodoxy: Rediscoveering the Adventure of Christian Faith (Downers Grove, ILL.: IVP, 2022), p. 6.)

First and foremost to claim a belief in God is to align one’s self with the only definiton and description of God available: the Bible. If we allow historians, philosophers, artists, or any other source to define and describe God we are no better than idolaters.