So, in our last pastor/elder meeting we were talking about what people we are trying to reach. Within that came some clear truths like the fact that we want to first reach the lost and that we aren’t trying to take people that are connected to a biblical church. Then I started wondering what percent of people fall into those and other categories. And since I love numbers, I did a study. Well, really I did a search for other people’s studies and extrapolated some data on my city.
Here it is. I sought to consider how many people are knowingly non-Christian, how many people claim to be Christian and likely were never saved, how many of those claiming to be Christian are connected to a church and of those attending a church how many are in a biblical church.
Up front I realize there are flaws in the study I’ve done. I am making assumptions and using broad study data. That’s okay with me. I just wanted to get a feel for the situation, not to get perfect info. I was an advanced statistics tutor in college, so I do at least know a few things about stats and the first thing I learned is that they are not perfect. But decent data usually paints a good picture; not perfect, but good enough. Now onto the numbers.
20,031 - Sand Springs Population (2022 census)
15,824 - Claim Christianity (79%)
8,862 - Claim Christianity but don’t believe the Gospel, likely not actually saved (56%)
8,387 - Claim Christianity and connected to church (53%)
3,439 - Claim Christianity, connected to church, church is biblical (41% of attenders)
That means…
4,207 - knowingly lost (don’t claim Christianity)
8,862 - likely lost but think saved (don’t believe Gospel)
13,068 - total lost people
7,438 - claim Christianity but aren’t connected to a church
4,948 - claim Christianity but in an unbiblical church
So, there are things to consider here. At Angus we prioritize our outreach in this way: Reach the lost, connect the unchurched believer to biblical church, connect believers in unbiblical churches to biblical ones.
Based on the data above, here are the numbers of people in those categories:
Lost: 13,068 (4,207 known, 8,862 unknown)
Unchurched, Claim Christianity: 7,438
Claim Christianity, in Unbiblical Church: 4,948
Yes, there is some overlap in the numbers as many of the unbelievers that think they are saved are attending church, but this data still makes a few things clear to me.
We, as believers, have a lot of work to do in our own city. We need to get out and share the Gospel with the lost… like NOW!
We can’t do it alone at Angus. All our biblical churches need each other to reach this city. Every biblical church could triple in size just reaching the lost. There should be no biblical churches competing for people. There are plenty of people to reach.
The days of most professing Christians attending church regularly are long gone, even here in Oklahoma. We must reach people and remind them of the call to follow Christ.
Biblical Church is a big deal. Sadly most pastors don’t have a biblical worldview. People need to know the Truth and be led according to the Bible. That is becoming less normal.
Let’s go reach this city together! Feeling unsure of your ability to share the Gospel? We have a training on evangelism on May 5th. Also, just reach out to me. I would LOVE to equip you or connect you to someone else who can.
PS - For Sapulpa you basically just need to add 10% to all those numbers.
For those wondering about my numbers, here is some info:
https://thestateoftheology.com/ - Ligonier study that provided data, specifically that 56% of people that claim to be believers don’t believe in Christ alone for salvation
https://www.arizonachristian.edu/2022/05/12/shocking-lack-of-biblical-worldview-among-american-pastors/ - Arizona Christian University study that shows only 41% of pastors have a biblical worldview
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/slideshows/10-most-religious-states-in-america?slide=3 - quotes a Pew Research study on percent of Oklahomans that claim Christianity
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/ - population data
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