NOTE: I have moved to Substack! Please subscribe to my work there!

In a recent article for The Atlantic, Jake Meador writes about the enormous decline in church attendance. He cites two reasons for the decline: abuse at the hands of the church and, most significantly, the structure of American life. Meador argues that our American culture of overwork squeezes people so much that the additional commitments of attending church just don’t feel feasible.

I have no doubt that Meador is describing a genuine phenomenon. Modern life is exhausting, and church, like all community, takes effort. Who wouldn’t prefer to sleep in on Sunday morning when you’ve spent the entire week at the office, stressing over bills, and taking care of your kids? “Workism reigns in America,” writes Meador, “and because of it, community in America, religious community included, is a math problem that doesn’t add up.” He’s concerned about this because church attendance is an important institution that correlates with general well-being:

Participation in a religious community generally correlates with better health outcomes and longer life, higher financial generosity, and more stable families—all of which are desperately needed in a nation with rising rates of loneliness, mental illness, and alcohol and drug dependency.

I agree with his concerns. I worry about the loss of institutions that contribute to human flourishing. But I want to point out another reason people stop going to church that is conspicuously absent from Meador’s article: they no longer believe the truth claims of Christianity.