Is Evangelism Harder Today?

 

“If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.” (Mat. 10:14)

In 1957, Billy Graham held his longest running crusade ever in New York City. The meetings began on May 15 and ended on Sept. 1 – extending a total of 16 weeks! Over that summer, 2,397,400 persons attended the meetings and 61,148 made decisions for Christ. The crusade kept gaining momentum, so it was moved from Madison Square Garden to Yankee Stadium (when the boys in pinstripes weren’t playing), and finally culminated in Times Square with an estimated 125,000 in attendance!

Thinking back to that summer 65 years ago, it seems impossible that something like that could happen in America today. Especially, when you consider that church attendance in the US has hit record lows. According to a recent Gallup poll, “Americans’ membership in houses of worship continued to decline in 2021, dropping below 50% for the first time in Gallup's eight-decade trend. In 2021, 47% of Americans said they belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque, down from 50% in 2018 and 70% in 1999.”

As many experts have noted, we are now living in what has been called a “post-Christian” society, one in which Christianity is no longer the dominant religion and where most of the culture is secular.

This got me thinking – if Billy Graham lived today and tried to have a crusade in NYC in 2022 would he have the same results? Maybe, there’s no way we could answer that question, but we can definitely say that American culture is much different now than what it was in 1957. Back then, school days were started with prayer and Bible reading. Back then, church attendance was at an all-time high. Back then, people believed there were only two genders and TV was just beginning to appear in homes.

I would say that given the moral abyss we are sliding into, Billy would have a harder time today. This difference is illustrated in the book of Acts between the response Peter received preaching on the Day of Pentecost verses the response Paul got preaching in Mars Hill.

According to Acts 2, when Peter preached the Gospel “the people were cut to their heart” and “those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.” Meanwhile, according to Acts 17, when Paul preached to the intellectuals in Athens, “some of them sneered, but others said, ‘We want to hear you again on this subject’ and some of the people became followers of Paul and believed.”

What was the difference? Why did Peter enjoy a massive harvest, while Paul only a few converts? In Acts 2 Peter primarily had Jewish audience, who were steeped in the OT Scriptures and possessed a theistic worldview. While in Acts 17 Paul had a Greek audience who was steeped in paganism, Epicurean and Stoic philosophy, and possessed a secular worldview. Paul had a much harder time reaching the Greeks because the cultural divide was so much wider.

This is important for us to remember today. We are living in an America that much more resembles Acts 17 than Acts 2. This is why its harder to do church, reach the lost and have a lasting impact. Christians are no longer the majority in this culture. It doesn’t diminish the power of the Gospel, but it does mean our work is cut out for us! All we can do is share Christ faithfully and leave the results up to God. -DM