What the Unchurched Really Think About Church
Luke 19:1-10 (NIV1984) – Jesus Stays at Zacchaeus’s House
19 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
The title for this article comes from the Church Answers’ Blog of Thom Rainer and was written by his son, Sam Rainer. It was posted today, October 20, 2025. The article is one of many articles and books written with the latest research looking to answer the question: Why aren’t people coming to church today? I picked the Bible passage.
The research done by Church Answers shows the following: 1) Most of the unchurched are not unfamiliar with churches. 2) The church still matters to the community. 3) Local trust in churches is often missing. 4) Friendship becomes the bridge to the community. 5) Confusion is a greater barrier to the church than high standards. 6) The church feels unsafe for families. 7) Indifference is more common than antagonism among the unchurched.
The article ends with the following:
“So why aren’t the unchurched coming to church? It’s not because they’re mad, too busy, or hostile. It’s because they’re indifferent. The most common reasons given were: 1) they don’t see church as necessary, and 2) they simply got out of the habit. This reality is both sobering and empowering. If the main obstacle is apathy, then the answer is intentionality. The solution isn’t to defend the church against attackers; it’s to lovingly engage those who have drifted.
When asked what would prompt them to start attending church again, the unchurched pointed to two things: a spiritual reason (desire to grow spiritually or a prompting from God) and a personal reason (an invitation from a friend or spouse). These answers affirm a powerful truth: evangelism is both divine and relational. God must work. We must be obedient.”
The Bible passage tells us a familiar event in the ministry of Jesus. The point of the encounter with Zacchaeus was the following: “…the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Jesus was both intentional and obedient to the mission of His Father. As followers of Jesus, we must do the same.
Pastor John
