Hold On is tackling one particular issue head on—the abandonment of one’s faith. In the process of coming to understand this issue, many more will be addressed. In episode one, Jake sets out to quantify just how big of a problem this is in America. There are many researchers and statisticians who have written about the large number who have left the faith, but there is one author who has gone beyond the numbers and examined the stories of those who have left. David Sanford began exposing what he called an epidemic in 2009 with the release of If God Disappears. The book and corresponding blog-site went beyond the stats and identified the root causes. His research led him to discover nine major faith wreckers. Rather than numbers, David speaks about stories which places a much more compassion understanding to the subject. In 2009, he wrote there was thirty-five million stories in America. By 2015, the number had risen to forty-two million. Jake and David work off of that 2015 number, but Pew Research has now suggested it could be as high as sixty-seven million today. To put that large number in perspective, it has to be understood that its 14% of the entire American population. The issue is huge and few churches and Christian leaders are addressing it. As David does in his books, he continues to point to the real-life human component. He simply asks the question are we listening to their stories. If you want to hear the statistic scope of this problem along with human aspect you must check this episode out. David’s latest book Love Your Neighbor: Surprise It’s Not What You Think is available now.
