Super Bowl 2012 (Numbers on the Battlefields) 2

Before we get too tied up in the game and the commercials–if you are not already–I wanted to take a moment and turn our attention toward the cities behind the teams.  And behind the cities, we find the people.

And among the people, a great battle is taking place.  This one is not on the gridiron.  It is a battle of supernatural proportions that has practical realities in the lives of these city dwellers, both today and for eternity (Eph 6:12).

Regarding the percentage of Evangelicals in these cities and the evangelical church to population ratios, here’s what we find:

Metro New York:

2.3% Evangelical

2478 Evangelical Churches

1 Evangelical Church for every 8517 people

Metro Boston:

2.5% Evangelical

778 Evangelical Churches

1 Evangelical Church for every 7786 people

Metro Indianapolis (host city):

16% Evangelical

743 Evangelical Churches

1 Evangelical Church for every 2163 people

I pray that these numbers will sink into your heart as you ponder them, and as you are exposed to all things Super Bowl over the next several days.

Pastors, take these numbers and share them with your church this Sunday morning.  Challenge the people  to consider how as a church you should respond to the mission of God in such North American contexts.  Develop a plan to put feet on the challenge, and act upon it.

These are the numbers on a few of the battlefields.

(See HERE for information on the research behind these numbers.)

I plan to share some more information regarding these cities in the next post.