The latest post-mortem of religious Christianity in America is out, this time in a very in-depth editorial from Jon Meacham, editor of Newsweek magazine (somewhat ironic as he oversees an old-school and rapidly dying form of media, the weekly news magazine) titled: The End of Christian America. Dr. Mohler features prominently in the piece (and has his own comments here) and rightly so as I think he is perhaps the most thoughtful and sober commentator among conservative Christians. But where Dr. Mohler is “despondent” about the trends, I have a slightly different reaction.
I say bring it on!
I say bring on the end of religious America. Bring on the end of spirit-less gatherings of unregenerate people assembling to watch a paid performance. Bring on an end to the people preaching prosperity or “social justice” or conservative political activism and calling it Christianity. Bring on the end of churches as social clubs or networking opportunities. Bring on the end of the program driven, corporate model “church” organizations with mission statements and org charts. Bring on the end of the assumption of Christianity, where Americans are presumed Christian unless proven otherwise. Bring on an end to a Christianity that carries no personal cost and therefore has no personal value.
We need to get away from the “make America a Christian nation again” rhetoric. This much is true: the influence of the old guard culture warriors is waning. As men like James Dobson step aside and we see the passing of men like D. James Kennedy and Jerry Falwell, the ability to mobilize millions of culturally Christian conservatives is slipping away, and politicians know it. As the value of the Christian Right as a voting bloc wanes, politicians will be able to disregard issues that have been hot-buttons for so long: abortion and gay marriage. The last election bears this out. Many people who profess to be Christians only care about so-called religious values when they don’t have something more pressing (i.e. their wallet) concerning them. In years of prosperity, they line up to vote for pro-life politicians. One good quarter of economic distress and they flock in huge numbers to a man who is hell-bent on making abortion as commonplace as a flu shot. I will put my conservative credentials up against anyone, but I also know that winning conservative political victories is not and never has been the mission of the church. We are to preach the Word, in season and out, knowing nothing but Christ and Him crucified.
Christians will never make an impact on American culture by attempting to moralize or legislate faith. We will only be able to impact America for Christ by taking Christ to Americans. There is a desperate need for people to preach the Gospel in America. That seems an odd thing to say. There are tens of thousands of churches and tens of thousands of preachers in those churches, how can I say we have a desperate need for people to preach the Gospel? The sad truth is that most “preaching” is not Gospel preaching at all, but is some form of “moralistic therapeutic deism”. An awful lot of churches are concerned more about being a church than they are about the church. I don’t fancy the idea of hundreds of abandoned churches scattered about the land, but I also don’t fancy the idea of hundreds of churches full of people getting a false sense of assurance based on religious rituals.
The days of American civil religion are over. That is OK. In fact, it may be the healthiest thing to happen to the church since the Protestant Reformation.
I say bring it on!
I say bring on the end of religious America. Bring on the end of spirit-less gatherings of unregenerate people assembling to watch a paid performance. Bring on an end to the people preaching prosperity or “social justice” or conservative political activism and calling it Christianity. Bring on the end of churches as social clubs or networking opportunities. Bring on the end of the program driven, corporate model “church” organizations with mission statements and org charts. Bring on the end of the assumption of Christianity, where Americans are presumed Christian unless proven otherwise. Bring on an end to a Christianity that carries no personal cost and therefore has no personal value.
We need to get away from the “make America a Christian nation again” rhetoric. This much is true: the influence of the old guard culture warriors is waning. As men like James Dobson step aside and we see the passing of men like D. James Kennedy and Jerry Falwell, the ability to mobilize millions of culturally Christian conservatives is slipping away, and politicians know it. As the value of the Christian Right as a voting bloc wanes, politicians will be able to disregard issues that have been hot-buttons for so long: abortion and gay marriage. The last election bears this out. Many people who profess to be Christians only care about so-called religious values when they don’t have something more pressing (i.e. their wallet) concerning them. In years of prosperity, they line up to vote for pro-life politicians. One good quarter of economic distress and they flock in huge numbers to a man who is hell-bent on making abortion as commonplace as a flu shot. I will put my conservative credentials up against anyone, but I also know that winning conservative political victories is not and never has been the mission of the church. We are to preach the Word, in season and out, knowing nothing but Christ and Him crucified.
Christians will never make an impact on American culture by attempting to moralize or legislate faith. We will only be able to impact America for Christ by taking Christ to Americans. There is a desperate need for people to preach the Gospel in America. That seems an odd thing to say. There are tens of thousands of churches and tens of thousands of preachers in those churches, how can I say we have a desperate need for people to preach the Gospel? The sad truth is that most “preaching” is not Gospel preaching at all, but is some form of “moralistic therapeutic deism”. An awful lot of churches are concerned more about being a church than they are about the church. I don’t fancy the idea of hundreds of abandoned churches scattered about the land, but I also don’t fancy the idea of hundreds of churches full of people getting a false sense of assurance based on religious rituals.
The days of American civil religion are over. That is OK. In fact, it may be the healthiest thing to happen to the church since the Protestant Reformation.
3 comments:
Arther,
I stumbled upon your blogpage a few weeks ago, and have been quietly reading your posts. I am gratefully happy to say much of your thoughts, ideas, feelings and beliefs are how I feel as well. I, too, am on a similar Journey as you with Papa Jesus Holy Spirit.
I have added your page onto my Blogroll (I shorted it to: The Voice of One Crying Out).
Feel free to visit my blogpage at anytime and comment, if you like. I also love gaining new Blogosphere friends.
Walking In The Spirit
http://amyiswalkinginthespirit.blogspot.com
Blessings,
~Amy :)
Hi Amy,
Thanks for your comment! I am growing in my conviction that a lot of what passes for "church" is impeding, not enhancing, the spiritual growth of Christians. There is a place for truth and doctrine, but not for empty orthodoxy.
Amen and Amen! Excellent post, Arthur and I agree whole heartedly!!
There are so many dead in the churches across America. They are living with a false sense of security, thinking because they are a sunday school teacher or have been a methodist all their lives that means they are "in".
My prior pastor used to say that the majority of churches today are filled with unregenerated souls. He is so right.
I am SO thankful to be in fellowship with a body of believers where Christ is the creed, the bible is preached and where we are not there to build the programs but to share the good news.
God bless,
gloria
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