catapult magazine

From today’s “slices” over at relevant mag:
“According to a recent survey by Ellison Research of Phoenix, the majority of pastors are not upbeat about the future of Christianity in America.”

Here is the actual link to the study:
http://www.ellisonresearch.com/ERPS%20II/Release%204%20Future.htm

The thing that is interesting to about this to me is that this isn’t the first time that any of us have heard Christianity is going down hill. I heard a telling statement a few months ago that I don’t know if I believe (but it is scary):

Christianity in America will be dead within the next 10 years if things keep going as they are now.
(paraphrase from a speech by Dr. John Mark Reynold, Biola U.)

So my question:
Can Christianity die in America?
Will Christianity die in America?

I read another study from George Barna’s latest…he says that American “Evangelical” Christians only compose 5% of the population…and that number is decreasing.

I want to be a part of what makes Chrsitianity thrive again in America. That’s why we have places like *cino.

but will it be enough?

Growing up in South America I can vouch for the fact that the church is alive and steadily growing there. There was even talk, at one point, of changing the national religion in Argentina to Protestantism due to the rapid growth in that country.

Is it that we, as North Americans, are too comfortable and too easily distracted that we are letting the church die? What led to the slowing of Christianity in Europe? What can we change on a grassroots level? How can I make a difference?

Part of the death of Christian relationships, I think, has to do with our obsession with time. We overcommit ourselves during the week, and these commitments run over into the weekend. Then we shortchange our spiritual lives by bumping church out of our schedule for a “lack of time” or, equally as bad, we attend Sunday services, but pay closer attention to our wristwatch than to the sermon. Even our Bible studies, which many of us enjoy more than the traditional services, become a low priority on our lists of things to do. I find it so easy to choose to skip Bible study for a night either because I have too much to do, or because I claim to need some time to myself. Why do my priorities always center on me, on my needs? When did my Christian walk become something that I could put on the back burner, so to speak? Why is American society the only one in the world that is structured around the individual, rather than the group? I’m always full of questions…

To add to what you’re saying, I think we feel like Biblestudy and church-going is not a valuable use of our time because these are often time-wasters. The church (that’s us) needs to demonstrate the spiritual relevance of church-going and biblestudy for all of life. I’m sure we won’t consider our work-a-day lives to be more important than our church-going if we see our day-to-day work as the work OF the church.

And I want to suggest that we must not refer to this apparent decline in the popularity of church as “death”. The church, if it is the body of Christ, already has died…and rose again. So, if a body has already died, there’s no way it can die again. The church is resurrected forever.

Grant,
I think you hit it right on the head as far as church-going relates to day to day work.

I don’t think the whole refrence about dying and not being able to die again works. What about Lazarus and others in history who died twice? I think our knowledge that the church can’t die comes from God’s promises in His word and the example of His church in history.

You are right that Christianity is not dying by any means. Dan posted some good articles in a thread about Latin America and the 3rd world. There are estimates that God is changing the hearts of 10,000 chinese people every day. He is working out His purposes. Sovereignty has its perks.

An interesting international poll result just came out comparing people’s attitudes toward religion in various countries. When asked if religion is “very important” in their lives, 59% of Americans agreed, a figure which is unmatched by other industrialized countries. The most religious country in Europe is Poland at 36% with France and the Czech Republic at the other end of the spectrum at 11%. Canada is 30%. Muslim countries are the most devout. Senegal is at 97%. If it weren’t for the US, you could make the generalization that rich countries aren’t as religious as poor countries. What’s different about the USA? Why are almost 2/3s of Americans religious compared to 1/10 French? And why do only half as many Canadians feel religion is important as compared to Americans? I don’t get it.

http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=167

let the american church die…we have T.V. and capitalism instead. Who needs Jesus anyway in the kind of system we have created for our selves.

Its also interesting that none of you have mentioned Africa…the church is alive and well there. Perhaps it has something to do with need.

The church in America turns to tv and capitalism for its own survival, anyway. A recent issue of Time talks about “skateboard for Jesus” movements in churches and sunday school classes that are trying to be more tv-oriented to keep the kids interested. Most of it is a good idea, but there’s always a danger that church won’t be distinctly what it is if it tries to be too much like other things.

And I think secular substitutions for church (tv, capitalism) still do not provide what a good church community provides.

I don’t think people see TV and capitalism as subsititions for church community. Without a church community, people find their community in other types of groups like clubs, sports teams, friendships, etc.

mwooten, the polsters actually compared per capita income with religious fervour and found a consistent trend. The more money, the less relgion. Except in America. Americans defy the trend.

I wonder if the percentage of Americans who find religion important is the poorer segment of the population? When you have money, you often don’t feel your need for Christ (or other religion, I suppose)—you feel self-sufficient.

On the topic of the church trying to appeal to the younger generation using new technology and methods: where do you think we need to draw the line? How much is true outreach, and when does compromise (or at least fuzzy Christianity) begin? This seems to be a major issue for many—I know it’s something that I ponder—and I’m interested to hear if anyone has any fresh perspective on this for me to think about. (That was a poorly constructed sentence, but you’ll have to forgive me.)

I would like to hear other people’s thoughts on the idea of “culturally relevant” sunday school and youth groups too but I wanted to focus on this idea of having “less” religion.

I find it funny that scientists are measuring religion with statistics to prove that religion is on the decline. Why should we trust science to possess the truth when it comes to the state of the world’s religiosity? Science merely establishes a definition of religion by which it can measure “objectively” a pattern of behavior in humans. I would not be so skeptical of scientists as the measurers of truth if they openly confessed their own religious presuppositions. Instead, science exalts itself, lifting itself above religion as an objective observer in the hope that we will be converted to science, putting our childish “religious” ways behind us.

If Wendell Barry is right, science has become the new religion of Western society (as BBC explained last issue) . Whereas the Church used to be the measuring rod of the value of science (there are many historic letters from scientists either apologizing to the church or trying to persuade the church that as scientists, they were doing God’s work by saying the earth revolved around the sun etc.), now science tells us how effective or ineffective the Christian church is in society. Now we take the values of science over those of the church, which does not measure faithfulness with numbers but according to the Word of God.