America’s Religious Landscape

Hot off the press The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey provides a rather revealing look into the religious- or should I say nonreligious- soul of our country.

According to the story I read on this survey more and more Christians in America are claiming no allegiance to any church and another growing percentage of folks call themselves “secular nonaffliated.”

There is much bad news for Protestants as practically all brands have lost membership. The Catholic Church remains steady, however, thanks to the increasing number of Catholic immigrants.

Interesting for those of us from a restoration heritage background- the Christian Church was singled out (in the article that originally ran on Monday, but for some reason erased from the article when I read it today- just the mention of non-denominational churches growing) as being one of the only churches currently growing faster than the growth population. On the other end, the Disciples of Christ got a mention as one of the churches rapidly shrinking. (No mention of the Churches of Christ in the article but we are mentioned in the survey. It can be found here if you want to wade through it)

Another revelation was not really news to me- that is- that folks now change church loyalties rather easily. I have been seeing this first-hand for quite some time. No longer can we assume that just because someone grew up in a church that they will stay there. Here is how the survey put it:

Fluidity is the rule today, not the exception. There’s greater diversity and greater movement — a quantum leap in the rate of change.

The survey is not predicting any imminent demise of Christianity in America- just that in the future the expression of Christian faith will likely be much different.

So what can we learn from all of this and what does it mean for our church? Here are some of my thoughts.

• Welcome back to the first century. I keep saying this because if our country is now “post-Christian” the first century culture was “pre-Christian” with just as much secular philosophy as today. Yet in this atmosphere the gospel flourished. Why can’t it do the same today? The light of Christ will only shine brighter as the darkness deepens.
• It should be good news that the survey identifies “non-denominational churches” as the only ones growing faster than the population rate.  This has long been the plea and identity of Churches of Christ. Maybe it is time we tell someone about it?
• Will we wait until it is almost too late to respond to this kind of news? If nothing else this survey calls for stronger faith and deeper commitment. Pew sitting will just further the downward spiral.

The last line of the article included this quote:

These new voices mean you can’t do business as usual. There has to be an entire rethinking of how to do religion and what it means to be Christian in this new cultural context.

Are we listening?

  

Divison or Dialogue?

One reason that I enjoy the blogging format is the wonderful opportunity of interaction that it provides. On occasion great discussion has broken out on this blog- as well as numerous others. It is dialogue- a wonderful exchange of ideas and perspectives. How healthy! How- can I say- biblical!

Scripture directs us to dialogue. Consider all the “one another” passages. Wow. Dialogue is at the heart of these commands. How can I love, forgive, have tender affection for, encourage and support others in God’s kingdom without talking to them- without getting to know them?

Then there is our responsibility to “sound doctrine” or “healthy teaching”. Check out Titus chapter two. It is all about the older demonstrating God’s will to the younger. How can this happen without dialogue?

And dialogue is key to working out misunderstandings and disagreements that occur. Jesus laid out some very clear teaching (Matthew 18:15-17) on how to handle these type of problems. It involves face-to-face discussion.

Yet with all of this divine direction, why is it that we sometimes choose division over dialogue? All discussion ends. Folks get entrenched, often angry, start completely ignoring the “one another” responsibilities and then go separate ways- all even in the name of truth and God! I don’t get it.

Even if the disagreements are sharp- our attitudes and tongues should not be. If Christians who disagree cannot sit down with mutual respect and dialogue through the issues- what kind of witness is that to a skeptical world?

Is truth threatened by dialogue? 

Does “defending the truth” give us licence to suspend clear biblical teaching on how we treat each other?

Dialoguing in the way Scripture leads us solves problems, builds trust, brings people together and generates good will. I think God is for that!

I know he is not for division.

“Pagan Christianity”

The above title is the name of a relatively new book co-written by Frank Viola (no, not the former MLB pitcher) and George Barna (yes, the church trend expert).  It is a fascinating read.

It is all about a twenty-first century call to go back and just be like the first century church. Sound familiar? According the authors- in some circles- there is already what we in the Churches of Christ/Christian Church heritage might refer to as a second Restoration Movement underway.

Only the one they propose in this book would rock our world.

Indicted as Pagan Christianity are church buildings, professional clergy, modern worship style and order, the sermon-as-central to worship, the sinner’s prayer, and a host of other commonly accepted traditions and practices in all kinds of churches.

Their premise is that none of these things have any historical or biblical connections to the very first church we read about it the New Testament. Viola and Barna document how these customs evolved out of pagan religion and were adapted by the Catholic church to then subsequently shift over with some changes into all brands of Protestant churches.  

Here is just a little teaser about what they have to say concerning the modern worship assembly:

Every Sunday you attend the service to be bandaged and recharged, like all other wounded soldiers. Far too often, however the bandaging and the recharging never takes place. The reason is quite simple. The New Testament never links sitting through an ossified ritual that we mislabel “church” as having anything to do with spiritual transformation. We grow by functioning, not by passively watching and listening.

In one area their conclusions may excite some of us within the fellowship of the Churches of Christ/Christian Church. They take a very strong stance on the essentiality and immediacy of baptism. Again, here are their words:

In the first century, water baptism was the outward confession of a person’s faith. But more than that, it was the way someone came to the Lord. For this reason, the confession of baptism is vitally linked to the exercise of saving faith. So much so that the New Testament writers often use “baptism” in the place of the word “faith” and link it to being “saved.” This is because baptism was the early Christian’s initial confession of faith in Christ.

What they are calling for in restoring the New Testament church is basically a dismantling of the institutionalized church with all its accrued bells and whistles. They claim that the church as it stands today simply cannot be the transforming agent God established it to be. Their idea is to go back to the New Testament- meet in homes as they did then- enjoy spontaneous and participatory worship not led by professional clergy (something they see in the text of 1st Corinthians 14)- rediscover the Lord’s Supper as a part of the joyous “love feasts” of the early church and not as a subdued ritual- and the real development of a sense of “priesthood” by every believer.

In our history (Churches of Christ/Christian Churches) the plea of restoring the New Testament church has been a central theme, but these men are taking it two or three steps further than we ever have. Now- according to them- we are a part of the institutionalized church they are calling people away from.

Are they right? Is their call valid? Do those of us in the Restoration heritage even take our traditional call seriously any more?

Read Pagan Christianity. It will challenge you. Already in many circles it is highly controversial. While I am not endorsing it and do not agree with everything Viola and Barna are saying, some of their ideas of a second restoration are intriguing.

The Sunday-Go-to-Meeting Blues

 

It is the cold and flu season. It has hit us hard down at the church. Just for fun here some of the specific scientific names of the strains that I have identified:

• The Long Gone Flu- it is a version of the Hong Kong flu that only occurs on Sunday. By Monday morning it is long gone.
• Pouting Pneumonia- have to treat those who suffer from this sickness with kid gloves to get them healthy enough to come back to church.
• Football Fever- this is uniquely a sickness occurring during football season. Those stricken must remain immobile in front of a television.
• Hypocrite Hypochondria- highly contagious. Folks stay away from the church house because they don’t want to be around the carrier’s of this disease.
• Sluggard Syndrome- this slows down body functions to the point of a deep Sunday sleep.
• Company Cold- it attacks when folks from out-of-town visit.
• Weekend Washout- the immune system takes a hit after a weekend so jammed pack full of activities. By Sunday the body is completely drained and needs the day to recover.
• Indifferent Influenza- this disease leaves the sufferer in an apathetic stupor which robs the patient of any spiritual passion.
• Preacheritis- this malady attacks the nervous system when a preacher like me comes up with a list like this and causes non-stop, hilarious, and debilitating laughter at the cleverness of it all!

Perhaps you have some to contribute to this list?

Preachers and Porn

In a recent phone conversation with a fairly well known leader and speaker who travels widely within the Restoration fellowship, he told me the number one preacher problem he encounters as he travels is pornography addiction.  According to this brother more and more of us preacher types are falling prey to this temptation.

This was not completely surprising to me- having known of some in my preaching fraternity who have struggled with this problem and fought the good fight to overcome it.

But the phone conversation got me to thinking more about this. Why is it that this seems to be a particular problem for preachers? That pornography is prolific and just-a-click-away for anyone online is nothing new. Reports have the porn industry realizing more profits than the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL- combined- last year. And now it has the convenient venue of the World Wide Web to deliver it- under the cover of anonymity- right onto our computer screen. And as another friend commented, “You don’t have to go looking for it. It will find you.”

But why all the problems for preachers? Are we proportionately more perverse when it comes to this vice? Is it because we as a group tend to spend more time with computers now that the Internet contains vast resources to assist us in our  research and preparation for sermons and other study?

Or could it be that we have been particularly targeted by The Tempter himself in his ongoing quest to discredit and ruin all things Christian? What better way then to attack Christian leaders, right? (This is the strong opinion of one acquaintance of mine)

Although I have no statistical data I believe that the percentage of porn-addicted ministers is proportionately no greater than any other group. I would guess- based on the fact that most ministers I know work diligently to guard their hearts and integrity- that we may as a group be less inclined to fall into this addiction.

Here’s the deal- because of our call and what we stand for- when one of us do fall- when a minister’s addiction to pornography is disclosed-the news is received with greater shock and recoil. The shame is more acute. Jobs are lost, family’s are devastated and reputations are ruined. Certainly we need to run far from the very appearance of this evil. But what is often forgotten is that preachers are human too and struggle with all the same temptations as anyone else.

Now, this is not written to excuse this behavior. Before ever embracing this life calling, ministers should know that (and even their family- fair or not) we will be held to a higher level of expectation and scrutiny when it comes to morality. That is just the way it works. Perhaps that is the way it should work.

But the way it also should work is that when a minister does admit to and seek help for an addiction such as pornography that he should know that the grace of God through his redeemed people will be available to him also and that he can find support and encouragement to defeat this sin and be rehabilitated to once again do the work of an evangelist- if at all possible.

Pornography- regardless of how close it is coming to the American mainstream of entertainment- is an insidious sin that is now more easily accessible than ever. We preachers need to be aware of the damage it can do to our profession, our family, our church and our souls.

We Christians need to be there for those who get caught up in this snare of Satan- providing prayer, support, hope, help- and most of all forgiveness.

We simply cannot afford to lose one person- one preacher- to this lifestyle.

P.S. Here are some Internet resources that address pornography addictions. ( No endorsement of these sites- just ones that looked helpful)

• Breaking Porn Addictions
• Christianity Today Article
• Overcoming Porn Addiction

PSS- Ben Overby is also addressing this topic on his blog. Check that out too.