It’s no secret that the effectiveness of the western church is under question. More and more people are dissatisfied with the lack of community transformation and calling for a revision of methodologies employed by the western church. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes and that should be evidenced in transformed individuals, families, communities and nations with its natural fruit of repentance. “By their fruit you shall know them” and because of lack of it, that’s the point that I’m making here.
Recently I came across a study done by the Kansas State University geographers where they mapped the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ and their distribution on the American map. I’m not going into details about the scientific methods of such a study or whether this approach has any theological merit but I’m simply asking the question: does this study give us a glimpse into the effectiveness of the western church and if it does, as a result maybe we should re-examine the methods and focus that we should have in our desire to be biblically faithful and culturally relevant.
The study in question shows the distribution on the American landscape of the vices based on the “Seven Deadly Sins”. (sloth, greed, envy, gluttony, wrath, lust, pride). Each sin was measured against statistical data from local state and national statistics. Sloth was calculated using the total expenditures on arts, entertainment and recreational activities compared to employment per capita.
Greed was calculated using the total per capita income compared to the number of inhabitants below the poverty line.
Envy was calculated using the total number of thefts (robbery, burglary, car thefts etc.) per capita.
Gluttony was calculated using the total number of fast-food eating establishments per capita.
Wrath was calculated using the total number of violent crimes (murder, assault, rape) committed.
Lust was calculated using the total number of per capita sexually transmitted diseases (HIV, aids, syphilis etc.).
Pride considered to be the sum of all sins, and as such, was calculated by aggregating the previous six sins.
We know that as a result of man’s disobedience of God, sin is a reality in the world, so no surprise here. What’s surprising is the distributions on the American landscape of these sins that are prevalent in the least expected places and regions like the South, the home of the proverbial bible belt, where we should find some “saintly” activity and yet the region is marked by a lot of sinful behavior. That helped me question whether we should re-examine our western church effectiveness. Are we focusing on helping people make decisions for Christ or are we making disciples of Christ. It seems like the focus is on the numerical (decisions) at the expense of transformational (disciples). To see a reversal, we need to return to being obedient to the biblical mandate of making disciples of all people so Christ will build His church for the glory of God. (Explore each map here)
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Mark Hobafcovich , is a Kingdom catalyst, pastor, leader, and author of "Defector: A True Story of Tyranny, Liberty and Purpose" , a memoir chronicling his journey to becoming a disciple of Christ inspiring others to live a purposeful life.
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