Is “Cultural Christianity” Stabilizing the Constant Decline of Religion

Pew Research puts out a Religious Landscape Study that explores the growth, interest, and siloes of Christianity in America. Since 2007, the Washington D.C. think tank has determined Christianity has precipitously lost public engagement and adherents. For their seven-year study in 2024, they determined for the first time in a long time that the number is no longer dropping.

“It’s striking to have observed this recent period of stability in American religion after that long period of decline,” said Pew Research’s Gregory Smith, one of the study’s co-authors. “One thing we can’t know for sure is whether these short-term signs of stabilization will prove to be a lasting change in the country’s religious trajectory.”

According to the survey, the rapid increase in the number of religiously unaffiliated individuals, often referred to as “nones,” is edging out. Today, 29% of U.S. adults identify as religiously unaffiliated—those who identify as atheist (5%), agnostic (6%), or “nothing in particular” (19%).

Protestants are also growing as a group. In fact, 40% of U.S. adults consider themselves Protestants, making them the largest subgroup of Christians in the country. Conversely, Catholics make up only 19% of Christian adherents. Other Christian groups comprise 3% (e.g., Orthodox churches, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses).

Another 7% of the U.S. population advise they were “non-Christian but religious.” That included 2% Jewish, and Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist, which were all 1%.

Christians have reasons to celebrate. Evangelism is spreading, love in God’s Word is growing, and retention is lessening. Yet, one other faction is also growing, and the Church isn’t too happy about that, even though this is a “Christian” group, too. Sort of.

The Advent of Cultural Christianity

Some people identify as “non-Christian but religious” within Christianity. This label might seem confusing at first, but it helps those who hesitate to publicly admit their belief in Christ. They still see themselves as having a level of piety that they believe is similar to what the Church recognizes.

Bible-believing Christians weren’t sure what that meant. The problem is so-called cultural Christians didn’t know what those church going people meant any longer either.

Barna polling in 2024 shows that “16 percent of Christians don’t bother attending church in person.” COVID-19 opened the door for live-streaming church as a regular Sunday event, but others skip the church experience entirely. Other numbers in the Pew poll reveal:

• Only 20 percent of Americans attend religious services every week
• Forty-one percent of Americans say they attend religious service monthly
• Fifty-seven percent of Americans seldom or never attend religious service attendance
• Regular church attendance has steadily declined since the turn of the century

Others say they appreciate Christian values and Christian culture, but they aren’t sure what they believe about Jesus. Some people want faith as the foundation of their lives, but they are no longer interested in doing that with a collective body.

People still want to feel a sense of faith but want to be insulated from scandal. They’re tired of hearing Jesus beat them down, in a sense, but they still want to know that God will lift them up. That has been the birth of what is now called “Cultural Christianity.”

The Understanding of Cultural Christianity

That noncommittal and vague term is a label free from judgment for people who call themselves Christians or “religious.” Yet, they don’t practice faith in accordance with the teachings of Jesus.

Some of the tell-tale signs of a cultural Christian is when someone wants to share that “I’m spiritual, not religious.” The moment Cultural Christianity became substantiated, the word “religious” became code for “hypocritical, liar, two-faced, backstabbing person who hides behind a ‘Christian’ label.”

As America becomes more hypersensitive and less Scripture-centric, people are thought to be asleep on the travesties of social justice. So, now it’s time to be awake—or “woke.” A new USA Today/Ipsos poll finds Americans are divided on whether “woke” is a compliment or an insult. 

Every word that creates a headline can be considered victimized by the “woke agenda.” Some believe Americans are getting softer. Others believe Sunday morning has become nothing more than a pep rally for the soul.

• Two in five (40%) say they consider “woke” to be an insult, but about a third (32%) consider it a compliment.
• While a majority of Republicans (60%) and a plurality of independents (42%) consider “woke” to be an insult, nearly half of Democrats (46%) say they take it as a compliment.
• Similarly, Americans ages 18-34 (43%) are more likely than those ages 50-64 (23%) or 65+ (19%) to view “woke” as a compliment. Compared to those ages 18-34 (21%), though, Americans ages 65+ (38%) are significantly more likely to say they do not know what “woke” means.

These are the people who say they “follow Jesus,” “know about God,” “have read the Bible,” or believe they are “good people.” Anyone can say that, but not everyone will make it to heaven.

“Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers’” (Matthew 7:21-23).

In conclusion, this poll tells us that one way to believe is Christianity, while the other is a pop culture trend. They’re not the same thing, and the later that line becomes about fewer people claiming to be Christian, the more we will see the truth.