If you listen to many voices in the mainstream media,
it is only a matter of time before American Christianity goes the way of
long-extinct Dodo bird. We’re told that
this nation is following in the secularizing footsteps of Western Europe where
many once-prominent churches have become museums instead of houses of worship.
A recent article touted this headline: “The Percentage
of Young Adults with No Religious Affiliation Has Nearly Quadrupled Since
1986.” If accurate, that’s scary,
because the future of Christianity requires the passing on of the faith to each
succeeding generation. It appears there
is a breakdown in this process.
But upon further examination, the picture is not
nearly so dire. Earlier this year
Harvard University published research that clearly demonstrates that America is
a strong “exceptional outlier” to the secularization pattern that has happened
elsewhere. Yes, mainline denominations are
in precipitous decline. Churches that
deny the historicity of Jesus, the reality of sin, the biblical view of
marriage as only between two heterosexual adults, and ordain homosexual clergy
are rapidly hemorrhaging members, many of whom are choosing churches that
continue to stand for the orthodox and historic Christian faith. In contrast, our own denomination, the
Presbyterian Church in America, has continued a pattern of slow, consistent
growth, with an increase in total membership each of the last four years.
People are demonstrating with their feet that they
care about theology and real, practical Christianity. It’s a simple reality that those churches
which have forsaken orthodox, biblical theology are experiencing dramatic
decline.
What of the rapid growth of the youthful “nones” –
young adults with no religious connection?
Research indicates that of those young people who left the faith, only
11 percent said they had a strong faith in childhood. The remaining 89 percent indicated that they
came from a home where there was a weak adherence to faith and practice. As one observer commented, “It’s not a news
flash that kids don’t tend to hang onto what they never had in the first
place.”
The facts demonstrate that there remains a strong,
vibrant Christian community in America.
The Harvard research found that the percentage of Americans who attend
church more than weekly, pray daily, and believe the Bible to be a wholly
reliable guide for their lives has remained absolutely consistent for at least
the past 50 years. And this is not a
tiny percentage. One-third of Americans
pray multiple times a day – this in stark contrast to the average in other
countries of one in 15. Moreover, those
who take their faith seriously, as a percentage of all religious people, have
grown from 39 percent in 1989 to the current 47 percent.
The bottom line is that God continues to build a
strong Christian presence in this nation.
But that is no reason for complacency.
Instead, these trends highlight the urgency for Christian parents to devote
themselves with renewed vigor to the mandate of Deuteronomy 6: “These words
which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them
diligently to your children . . .” And
if you want your church to grow, remain unalterably committed to the historic Christian
faith taught in the New Testament and recovered during the Reformation.
