The guy I bought my house from was a 20-something that became a pastor at a local church. They fired him after a year because he was bringing sound doctrine into it. This church had elderly members that had been faithful attendees their entire life but did not know the difference between the old and new testaments.
I’ve learned, after going to churches in one of the most unchurched parts of the country to then attending in the bible belt that there is a cultural difference I did not expect: People go to church in the bible belt becuase it is culturally what you do. People go to church in Seattle because they are Christians.
Obviously that is a generalization, but you get my drift.
I noticed the same thing. I lived in the South (Columbus Ga) for almost 8 years off and on after my military stint, and it seemed like everyone was a self proclaimed Christian.
Years later when I truly gave my life to Christ, I learned that the Bible belt has millions of said Christians who have a lot of false teachers scratching their itchy ears.
So yes, we are of the same mindset.
I would rather attend have a church with twenty parishioners who want to learn, than a mega-church full of people who have no clue which Testament the book Of Galatians is in.
I wrote some articles on the 7 churches of revelations once, and it is often mentioned that the most loyal Churchs were the two smallest.
Smyrna and Philadelphia are the only Churches that still have a remnant of Christians left, most likely due to their faithfulness to the Gospel. And although both churches were poor, weak, and suffering from the Jewish persecution, they were full of life and vigor.