Revival or Decline: Your Final Verdict Vote - Part 4

According to GotQuestions.org, revival refers to a spiritual reawakening from a state of dormancy or stagnation in the life of a believer. It includes renewed love for God, a passion for His Word and church, deep conviction of sin, and a return to obedience. Biblically, the term comes from the Hebrew chayah, meaning "to live" or "bring back to life." Revival is not a marketing campaign or event hype. It is a visible transformation: people loving, forgiving, repenting, and living like Jesus.

Which brings us to the jury. That’s you.

Over the past several weeks, I’ve laid out the case – Exhibits A, B, and C – to 140,000 of you. We’ve examined hopeful signs, hard data, and honest questions. Now it’s time to weigh the evidence and vote: https://bttb.org/2026followup

Exhibit A: Evidence for Revival

Revival, some argue, is already here – just not in the places we’ve been looking. Joe Rogan, one of the most influential media voices in America, is now attending a non-denominational church. Bookstores report Gen Z customers walking in and asking, “I need a Bible – all my friends are reading it.”

And the numbers show it’s not isolated. According to Barna, weekly Bible reading in the U.S. surged to 42% in 2025 – a 12-point jump and the biggest in over a decade. Gen Z and Millennials led the way, with Bible engagement among young adults jumping nearly 20% in a single year.

The American Bible Society confirms that Scripture engagement is rising – especially among Millennials. Meanwhile, spontaneous baptisms and prayer nights are drawing thousands on college campuses. USA Today called it a "quiet revival."

If you’re looking for proof of spiritual hunger, there it is. The embers are glowing. The question is: are our churches ready to meet them when they show up?

Exhibit B: Evidence of Decline

But let’s be honest. For every one of those stories, there’s a stack of data pointing to erosion. According to Pew, for every new Christian, six leave the faith. Let that sink in: a 6-to-1 loss ratio.

Only 26% of adults under 25 attend church at least monthly – compared to 43% of seniors. There’s no broad-based revival among young adults. The generational slide continues.

So, while we celebrate Bible downloads, the overall Christian share of the population continues to shrink or plateau at best. Cultural Christianity is fading, and the younger the generation, the less likely they are to affiliate, attend, or even pray.

The hopeful anecdotes are real. But so is the tide of disengagement. And the question remains: is there fruit?

Exhibit C: Is there evidence of life transformation? (visible transformation: people loving, forgiving, repenting, and living like Jesus).

This may be the most important question of all.

Back to the Bible’s 2025 State of Christianity in America (https://bttb.org/soc2025) SALT Index concluded that America doesn’t have a religion problem, it has a transformation problem. In other words, in America, being right about God is not the same as being right with God.

Most Americans likely believe that Jesus existed and self-identify as Christian. They likely affirm key doctrines. But almost half don’t open their Bible in a given week. 33% believe they are saved by grace (Christ Follower), only 21% engage Scripture enough to catalyze life change.

Identity alone isn’t producing obedience or reproduction. We’ve taught people what to believe – but not how to live.

And get this – the most startling finding in my career – believers are barely more likely than non-believers to mentor/disciple someone to their worldview (14.3% vs. 13.8%).

(Even inside our churches, the numbers are grim. Lifeway’s 2025 discipleship report scored churchgoers a 68 out of 100 – a D average. Evangelism scored an F at 54.8. Only 8% of pastors are confident their discipleship efforts are effective.)

For fifty years, the Church/Para-Church Ministry Industry has measured what makes us look transformative: attendance, decisions, impressions, downloads, and reach.

We funded it. We celebrated it. We scaled it.

The State of Christianity in America 2025 — together with the latest findings from Lifeway Research and Pew Research Center — has made it unmistakably clear: No matter how impressive our vanity metrics may look, the only question that actually matters is this: Are we making biblically engaged disciple-makers?

Closing Argument-Where does that leave us

Exhibit A: the revival in America is real – the sparks are glowing.

Exhibit B: the decline in Christianity is real – the tide is receding.

Exhibit C: We have no basis for deciding A or B, and no way to judge the actual effectiveness of Church and Para-Church organizations, until we start measuring evidence of transformed lives.

Life change is rare, we have measured impact wrong for fifty years. No one is lying. But most are celebrating the wrong things.

True revival bears fruit. Not just decisions – but disciples. Not just headlines – but holiness. Not just impressions – but transformation. That’s what Jesus meant when he said, “By their fruit you will recognize them” (Matthew 7:16).

So I put the final question to you: Is the American Church in revival… or in decline?

Please vote here: https://bttb.org/2026followup

P.S. If you have a comment or prayer request, contact me here: or call me and leave a message at 1-800-811-2387. And be sure to join me tomorrow through Friday on our new podcast Spiritually Fit Today.