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 There are some clear indications today of a decline in religious interest, or at least, a decline in active involvement in the Church.  So we ask ourselves today, “How serious is this decline? What does it mean?  How long will it last?  How deep will it go?”

 I do not pretend to have all the answers.  I do know that in order to get the picture in perspective we must stand far enough back to take a broad, long look.  This kind of thing may be new to many of us, but it is not new in the life of the Church across the centuries and around the world.  It happened even during the public ministry of Jesus.  We read in the Gospel of John that there came a time when “many of His disciples turned away and deserted Him.”

So what are the reasons behind this kind of thing?  What causes religious dropouts?  We are not told specifically what the factors were in the first century, but it’s fairly easy to imagine.  Probably they were about the same then as they are today.

For one thing they must have had a problem with sensation.  Many of those first disciples started to   follow Jesus in a time of great excitement.  Jesus had created quite a stir.  He was a fresh face and a new voice.  Unlike the scribes and Pharisees, He spoke with an authority reminiscent of the prophets.  Added to all of that was His power to perform miracles.  In this kind of electric atmosphere people flocked to Him by the thousands.

But then, after a while, the mood began to shift.  His popularity started to wane.  They listened to His message.  He was calling for dedication and sacrifice and self-discipline.  Many things He said antagonized the leaders and some of them even plotted His death.  It became a demanding and possible a dangerous thing to follow Jesus.  So when the sensation was gone, many went back and followed Him no more.

The Church is faced with a similar problem today.  We live in an age geared to excitement, and most of that excitement seems to be centered in the secular world.  Things are being done – incredible, sensational things that have never been done before.  Space travel, invention of new gadgetry, discover of new dimensions tend to diver the human mind from thoughts of God.  Who needs miracles from heaven when we’re working miracles of our own?

And that’s it – an age oriented to excitement.  At Church we’re still dealing with the same old things – prayer, confession, repentance, strength of character, love of neighbor.

A second problem is preoccupation.  I am sure a lot of people gave up their Christian venture simple because they were bogged down in the routine of daily living.  The very business of keeping up with the demands of life can push the things of the Spirit over into one little dusty corner.

One thing, and then another and then another, and at the tail end along comes God.  Whether we’re housewives or business people, or students, the great bulk or our time is devoted to making a living, until for many making a living becomes the total purpose of life.  I say that not critically but very sympathetically.  Some people fall out of the ranks from sheer fatigue.  We get so busy improving living conditions; we’ve little energy left to live at all.

All I can say is that the Church, despite its faults and fluctuations, has an imperishable quality, an impressive history of renewal.  The tides of the ocean come in and go out, but the ocean itself persists because it is gifted with an inexhaustible depth.  So is the Church.

There is always an unquenchable hunger for God in every human being.  Remember Simon Peter said it so well centuries ago, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You alone have the words of eternal life.”

So be careful of the sensational and preoccupations in your life.  Do not allow them to draw you away from God!