If the population today is 300+ million: that’s 300,000,000.
The Christian population made up 88% in 1990. Today it is only 79.8%.
At some point we need to address the fact that the Christian population dropped that much, but let us look at another statistic for now.
Percentage-wise, we lost 8.5%. "BUT," the Census Bureau tells us, "there is hope! You have increased in actual numbers by 5.3%." (See footnotes.)
So, that would put the modern Christian population at around…let me do some figures…237 million.
237 million people that claim Christianity.
What could we do with 237 million Christians who were unified?
How much of an impact we could make!
How much of an impact we could make!
Think in terms of the EXTREME leverage we have in terms of political, economic, and humanitarian sway. Imagine millions of Christians, acting in unity, defining and shaping American into the world-saving force it was meant to be!!
It is hugely exhilarating!
Think of the resources!
The median income in 2000 was $42,100. A tithe of that is $4,210. Multiply that by the 237 million of us that would be tithing!!! The numbers are staggering: $997,770,000,000!!
That is $997 billion dollars to do the work of the Lord! Amazing! That’s almost HALF of what the entire IRS pulls in. (But think of the voting power to get the IRS under control!)
Think of the voting power to put trusting people in power on the local, state, and federal level!
(By the way, Ron Paul for prez!)
Want a Missionary Holiday every year to send our families to neighboring countries to spread the gospel for a week and a half? We would just have to vote on it in unity!
Imagine every Christian writing their representatives when a bill came up that they wanted to back. Imagine the flood of letters and e-mails of Christians who took their citizenship seriously enough to act in unison.
And if it still didn’t take, imagine a march on Washington to have our voice heard. Not a million-man march, but 237 million American Christians voicing their opinion.
Do you think that would get some things changed? I think so!
Franklin would do it!Imagine the ability to sway other world-powers into treating their people with humanity.
Jefferson would do it!
Washington would do it!
Lincoln would do it!
Yesterday I spoke about the story of Yun, the Heavenly Man. His story of persecution, torture, and spreading the gospel happened in modern China! His story was unfolding while the U.S. Census Bureau was taking these statistics!!
Imagine if 237 million Christian Americans boycotted all Chinese-made products and services for 2 weeks. What would that do to the nation when they asked “Why”?
We could deliver a strong message to any country that mistreated their own people.
‘Grant, quit dreaming! You need to be realistic.’
Uhm, reader, start dreaming! You need to be idealistic! You need to start believing in the dream!
Hard Facts, my friend:
• Only $211 billion was donated in 2000. That is $786 billon less than it could have been. And much of the $211 billion went to salaries and building programs. It is reported that only 2% made it to overseas missions.
• Even though the older we get the more we vote, over all the voter turnout is decreasing rapidly. Only 41.9% turned out to vote, and only 62.1% are even registered. The numbers are daunting for the 18-24 crowd (18.5% voted.)
• That 2% that made it to overseas, humanitarian causes amounts to only $4.22 billion. That sounds like a lot, but when you account for salaries and infrastructure, only a fraction of this number actually translates into food and supplies.
I am fully aware of the real situation, but what if we Christians were to wake up and realize that we were actually in the power position, in the most powerful, equipped nation in history?!
What would the mobilization of saved-America look like in a spirit of unity to save the world?
A GOOD statistic I just read said that only 27% of the world had not yet been reached with the gospel! That is good news! It said that 33% includes Christians of all kinds, and 40% had heard the gospel but rejected it.
As sad as the last figure may be, the good news is that only 27% is left!
Back to idealism:
If we mobilized and kept evangelism efforts in front of population growth, we would have delivered the word to the world before I die!
That would be an exciting day.
So, I simply ask you to broaden your mind for what is possible for us. Dream of where we are at today, and where we could be were we to unify.
And it wouldn’t take us acting in unity. That sounds like the impossible goal: unite the churches! Good luck!
What DOES sound realistic is this: what if we all started acting like a Christian? What if we all started simply doing the little things that we know we ought to, simply because of the rebirth?
It would be nothing short of divine! And THAT is Extreme Human Capital Leverage.
Resources:
http://www.generousgiving.org/page.asp?sec=4&page=161#34
http://www.census.gov
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demography_of_the_United_States
http://www.uscwm.org/mobilization_division/pastors_web_folder/global_mission_statistics.html
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