Read a poll, then examine your own heart

Earlier this month, the Gallup Poll reported fewer Americans believe in God.

The conclusion is based, Gallup said, on a random selection of 1,007 adults aged 18 and older in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The polling was conducted between May 2 and May 22.

The newly-released statistics show 81% of Americans admitting to a belief in God -- a 6% drop from 2017 and an 11% decline from 2011.

Additionally, 28% say God hears a person's prayers but "cannot intervene," with 11% suggesting God neither hears nor answers prayers.

My suspicion is more than a few sermons will be preached this weekend with the Gallup survey as a primary text.

The important thing to remember about polls is they advance not data but what a person thinks about an issue in a given moment in time.

In what may be an apocryphal comment, the late Apple founder Steve Jobs is reported to have said people don't know what they think.

The longer I live, the more Jobs' remark resonates with me.

A seminal moment in my life occurred in a south St. Louis church back in the 1990s.

Following a funeral, family and friends gathered in the fellowship hall for what now-disgraced humorist Garrison Keillor used to call "the laying on of dinner."

Digging into my mashed potatoes and gravy at the bereavement lunch, a woman about my age caught my eye from across the table and shared with me her thoughts.

"All that stuff you said from the pulpit about heaven and eternal life, I don't believe any of that crap -- not since my father died young," she opined.

I looked at her and asked if she would pass me the salt.

I don't engage in those types of conversations.

Today, I feel confident my lunch companion would have waited to go on Facebook and share her afterlife thoughts -- so I suppose I'm grateful she said them to my face.

My wife says I've gotten more cantankerous as I've aged.

Undoubtedly true.

I'm also less patient with folks who share out loud any random thought that pops into their heads -- including thoughts about heaven, hell, the afterlife, et al.

Nobody has any personal knowledge on the subject, save perhaps for the rare individuals who've had near-death experiences and experienced visions.

Here's what I think about polling that attempts to mine the religious thoughts of people they call randomly on the telephone.

I don't care.

What does matter to me is if polling causes a person to examine personal faith questions.

• Do you think there is life after death? If "yes," why do you think so? If "no," why not? (Please don't tell me a loved one died as you make your argument. Everybody loses somebody. Or do you think it's reasonable to assume you'll live in your physical body forever?)
• If the answer is "yes" to an afterlife, what do you imagine happens to us when we die?

I'd be pleased to have a conversation engaging those questions.

Unfortunately, it's a talk I've rarely had with anybody -- and I was a pastor for 25 years.

This column ends with a coda.

As my father lay dying eight years ago with oral cancer, I asked him what was the most important thing he had learned in his 80 years of living.

Dad's answer: "God is real."

Don't show me a poll, please. Let's talk about what my dad said.