The new wealth of evangelicalism is even more pronounced in the parachurch world. That statement would not be accurate based on the income source figures outlined above. The intent is not clear. As one example, education is contained in the total. Here, however, we think that the grouping represented in the article's estimate more accurately reflects the scope of religious activity in the United States than do the categories defined by philanthropy publications, specialists and the Internal Revenue Service.
Religion is limited to churches and some narrowly defined religious activities.
Yet, routinely in categories such as Human Services or International, faith-based organizations are high on lists of organizations ranked by size of income. A final point of concern about the article is the conclusion that readers may draw from it. Perhaps concerned Christians should give less to these organizations, and maybe even to churches, in order to keep these entities lean, mean spiritual fighting machines. The data we study shows that, although evangelicals give a higher percentage of income to their churches than do members of mainline churches, the evangelical giving rates are declining faster than those of people in mainline churches. Evangelicals may be all too eager to hear advice to keep more money for themselves, advice that would seem to endorse the move of evangelicals into the consumer lifestyle promoted by Mammon in America.