The Sad Truth About 'Dropout Believers'

How do we stop the flood of dropout believers?
How do we stop the flood of dropout believers? (Unsplash/whoislimos)

It's sad but true that in 2016, out of all adults in the U.S., only 3 of 10 are currently in church. And, of the other seven adults not in church now, four used to be in church! (see Barna group 2016 survey). These are dropout believers. Some of these you know and care about.

And why care? Because for the most part these dropout believers have bought into the secular culture in our society, and by doing so, they contribute to our decline.

More importantly, by being AWOL from the church, dropouts and their families do not receive the encouragement, support and help they need to get through tough times. Most importantly, dropout believers hurt the church spiritually, physically, emotionally and financially—because their gifts are not there.

No other nation has been "Christianized" in the last 400 years as the United States has been. Now, a significant part of the harvest in this nation may be the harvest of the dropout believer. In order to reap this harvest, the church will have to utilize God's plan for the hour. The fisher's strategy will not work to bring in the harvest of the dropout believer. It was always designed to harvest the lost, the unsaved in humanity.

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The divine power of the Hunters strategy with the dropout believer is that it fulfills the new commandment Jesus gave to us.

We have a desire and a vision of God to see a "Hunters" type ministry active in churches all across the country, through individual believers that are Spirit led to undertake this ministry and through churches that actively promote this ministry to their congregations. We pray that God will raise up a mighty army of "Hunters of the Harvest" that will touch every dropout believer.

Action Tip:
Help us by spreading the word:

1. Introduce your church pastor/leader to this ministry by sending them to huntersoftheharvest.org/to-pastors/.
2. Become a supporter of Hunters of the Harvest Ministry. Go to huntersoftheharvest.org/donate/.
3. Forward the newsletter to Christian friends.

Remember: Love never fails.

Louis Posthauer is the executive director of Hunters of the Harvest Ministry. He has been actively involved in the local church for more than 37 years and currently serves as a lay leader and teacher at Living Word Church of the Nazarene in Houston. For more information, visit huntersoftheharvest.org.

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