Sheep without a shepherd

New data confirms that Christians cannot afford to keep their faith quiet

I wasn’t a theater kid, but I haven’t been known to turn down a good musical. Make the subject matter a point of personal interest—the American Revolution, anyone?—and that sounds like a great Friday night to me. (In my defense, I never claimed to be cool.) 

So, I was late to the Hamilton party and only saw it for the first time when it was made available for streaming in 2020. But I was no different from the multitude of others who have grown to love the show since its debut in 2015. 

The first time I watched the show, I was intrigued by the characterization of Aaron Burr, whose detached politicking serves as an analog to Alexander Hamilton’s fiery campaigning throughout the story. 

“Talk less,” he instructs Hamilton, early in the show. “Smile more. Don’t let them know what you’re against or what you’re for.” 

He’s met with derision, illustrated by a refrain from Hamilton throughout the show: “If you stand for nothing, what’ll you fall for?”

If you know your history, you won’t be surprised to know that Burr doesn’t necessarily come out looking like a hero—he is, after all, Hamilton’s killer—but I couldn’t find it in myself to fault him. Isn’t it wise to keep some things to yourself? I mean, Paul himself says to “be at peace with all men.”¹

Lately, I’ve come to rethink that position. 

I rewatched Hamilton for the first time in several years a few weeks ago, and I was surprised to find myself less sympathetic to Burr’s position than in previous viewings. 

I’m not sure exactly what changed. Maybe a little more life experience has given me more confidence in myself and my beliefs. But I think there’s something else to unpack here, and it’s related to my relationship with my faith and the implications it has for the world around me. 

These disparate thoughts started to click together this past weekend, when I came across the following passage in the reading my book club was discussing: 

“It is ironic that many people in the modern world have regarded Christianity as a private worldview, a set of private stories. Some Christians have actually played right into this trap. But in principle the whole point of Christianity is that it offers a story which is the story of the whole world. It is public truth.”

N.T. Wright, The New Testament and the People of God, Pg. 41-42

I’ve never intentionally kept my faith private. But I’ve certainly been guilty of keeping a bit too quiet when I felt like my status as a believer might not be greeted with warmth and excitement. 

I had taken the sentiment of Paul’s words in Romans 12:18 and turned it into something it wasn’t intended to mean, disregarding the essential context of the message. Just a few verses earlier, Paul urges his readers not to “be conformed to this world,” but to instead “be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”²

In reality, the Christian faith is (and always has been) subversive. Jesus prepares his disciples to be “hated” by the world,³ and the cross—the very symbol of his victory, though scorned as an embarrassment by the society that invented it—is called a “stumbling block” and “foolishness.”⁴

Christians cannot afford to keep our faith private. It’s antithetical to the message we preach—that Christ came to save the entire world from sin and death, once and for all. Here’s why the world needs us to be outspoken about the hope we have. 

More polling data

Image from Gallup

Earlier this summer, I shared data from the 2022 General Social Survey, which illustrated that one-third of Americans have little or no confidence that God exists. 

Last week, Gallup published more data that confirms the trend we’ve seen coming for years now: religion is rapidly becoming less important to Americans. 

The survey this data was collected from asked Americans to state the importance of the following aspects of life: 

• Community activities

• Family

• Friends

• Health

• Hobbies/recreational activities

• Money

• Religion

• Work

The responses were compared to data collected during similar surveys in 2001 and 2002, and the results for religion indicate a concerning trend. In 2002, 65% of respondents said that their religion was “extremely” or “very important.” In 2023, that number fell by 7 points to 58%. 

Of the measures surveyed, religion also had the largest share of respondents (24%) who considered it “not too/not at all important” in their lives.

Image from Gallup

And no one is off the hook: These results were consistent across age and gender demographics, with the largest decreases exhibited by women, individuals aged 18-34, and individuals aged 55 and older. 

There’s no time to waste

Fellow believers, we cannot afford to let this trend continue. It’s not about “winning” by converting more people to “our side.” It’s about loving our neighbors enough to share the truth of the gospel with them. 

Sure, being a detached observer of the world is safe. You won’t hurt anyone’s feelings, you won’t alienate any acquaintances, and you certainly won’t rock any boats. But once you’ve chosen to follow Jesus, it’s simply not an option anymore. 

By necessity, your faith will impact the way you interact with the world. That’s what Paul meant by the whole “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” thing in Romans 12:2. 

“And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’”

Matthew 9:35-38

The state of our world isn’t that different from the crowds Jesus saw and loved 2,000 years ago. As believers, we have the responsibility and the power to point those flocks toward the True Shepherd. But we’ll only do so by living out a public faith. 

This week’s recommendation:

I came across this fun, relatively quick video about the history of the church last week. One small disclaimer: he doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to the state of the modern church, and his outlook is a bit more bleak than mine. Nonetheless, it’s a great overview.

1. Romans 12:18

2. Romans 12:2

3. John 15:19

4. 1 Corinthians 1:23