According to Pew Research, 38% of Ohioans attend church each week, which beats the 34% of Pennsylvania residents who claim to attend weekly. It isn’t as high, though, as the 46% of West Virginians who claim weekly church attendance.

Some, however, may exaggerate their attendance. While those numbers claim weekly church attendance, actual records of church attendance reveal that only 20%-25% of Christians are in church each week, meaning that at least 3 out of 4 believers are somewhere else!

The downward trend in church attendance began in the sixties and seventies, surged upward briefly after 9/11, and then resumed falling, corresponding to a similar drop in religious interest during the same time. According to Gallup, only 47% of Americans claimed church membership last year, down from 73% in 1937 when Gallup first measured religious involvement.

While some criticize the church and cite corruption, hypocrisy, or politics as the reason for their lack of interest in church, most of those who have disengaged say they don’t get anything out of the services, so they see no reason to attend. These folks don’t claim to have abandoned God, they just want nothing to do with organized religion.

Perhaps the church is partly to blame. Thirty or forty years ago, when people began falling away from religious services, the church decided to put on a show. Congregations added contemporary music, drama, PowerPoint and other media in an effort to be more relevant. After all, if people enjoyed what they saw on television or heard on the radio, wouldn’t the church benefit from copying that style?

As it turned out, no.

Most congregations had neither the technical skills nor the financial resources to create glitzy worship productions to compete with Nashville or Hollywood. The very people churches were trying to engage cited the new worship styles as “empty” or “just a show.” Some churches responded by offering services that were more “traditional” and contemplative, turning back the clock to the days of candles, chants and quiet prayer times. The public dismissed this as merely a different kind of show; the downward attendance trend continued.

Perhaps the church should return to her roots. In John 12:22 (NIV), Jesus said, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” According to Jesus, he would attract followers through his death on the cross. The Apostle Paul echoes that sentiment in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 when he writes, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day…”

The message of the cross speaks forgiveness, love, belonging and hope.

Forgiveness, because Jesus died “for our sins.” Most people carry a load of failure and guilt; Jesus offers a clean slate. He did that because he loves us. Romans 5:8 reads, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Note the inclusive nature of Jesus’ message. He died to “draw all people” and “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” No one is excluded because of the kind of sin they committed, or because of their age, ethnicity, gender, political affiliation, economic status or handicap. And as people are drawn to Christ, they also come together in the family of God, a family that belongs together and can accept each other since all are sinners. No one has cause to judge the weaknesses or failings of others.

When the Bible speaks of “hope,” it doesn’t mean a wish for something but rather a patient waiting for something expected. Believers don’t “hope” for Heaven like it’s a “maybe,” we anticipate it and wait for it. Jesus died to promise Heaven. The night before he went to the cross, Jesus said, “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

The church can’t compete with the world when it comes to entertainment, but we can offer freedom from guilt, and a fellowship of love and acceptance along with the promise of Heaven. Isn’t that better than anything the world can offer?