Barna: 5 trends driving Americans' perception of church relevance, influence
New research by the evangelical Christian polling firm Barna Group, which looked at how Americans relate with the churches they attend, reveals five notable trends affecting pastors and Christian leaders.Here are the five trends that Barna discovered:
- Declining church loyalty, ‘church hopping’
- Churchgoers on the value of church
- Churchgoers largely experience or expect positive emotions and outcomes by going to church.
- Church membership is still a common practice and is correlated with positive outcomes — but its importance is declining among younger churchgoers.
- The perception of the Church’s relevance to the community is under question — especially among non-Christians.
Hong Kong church stands firm amid chaos
CE Comment: I continue to be amazed at the steadfastness of the Church in Hong Kong. I recently highlighted the impact Christians are having within this troubled region of China in a small group lesson. American Christians need to watch the Christians in Hong Kong to see how a church can stand in the midst of turmoil and cultural upheaval.
HONG KONG (BP) -- Months of unrest and protests have transformed Hong Kong from a hub of global finance to an unpredictable place of upheaval. Butch Tanner, pastor of Kowloon International Baptist Church (KIBC), sees the wear and tear from the last six months in the faces of his congregation."We've been praying for years that Hong Kong would see its brokenness and boy do they ever now," Tanner says, noting that an overwhelming sense of defeatism envelops the city with every new protest."People have lost faith in the government and even the movement. In the middle of this crisis, some people are looking for answers that they've never looked for before," Tanner says. In the mostly Buddhist and Taoist city, more people have asked him questions about his faith in recent months than in the last few years combined. "If we, in the midst of chaos, can show how you stand firm in your faith, then it helps people see Jesus."
Pastors don't link world events to speeding up return of Christ
The Doctrine of Eschatology is falling on hard times in this age of the church. Mention the Study of Last Things or Bible Prophecy today and most evangelical pastors will look at you with either a blank stare (because they haven't a clue what you are talking about) or they will think to themselves, "this guy is a kook."Some of this, unfortunately, is well-earned. Rather than look to the Bible and read what the Bible says about prophecy many Christians let the world define what prophecy is and is not, and, too often, the world highlights genuine false prophets like Harold Camping or Edgar Whisenant. Add to this the reality that there are pastors and churches who have made the study of prophecy their entire focus, disregarding nearly everything else the Bible has to say, and you can see how quickly the church can become unbalanced.Where do you fall when it comes to teaching eschatology? Do you avoid the topic altogether or do you spend weeks and months preaching on the meaning of the first seal from Revelation?I like how Millard Erickson presents a balanced view of eschatology:
Somewhere between the two extremes of preoccupation with and avoidance of eschatology, we must take our stance. For eschatology is neither an unimportant and optional topic nor the sole subject of significance and interest to the Christian. We will find an appropriate mediating position if we keep in mind the true purpose of eschatology. At times eschatology has become a topic of debate, resulting in accusations and acrimony among Christians. This is not the purpose for which God revealed eschatological truths. Paul indicates in 1 Thessalonians 4 his reason for writing about the second coming. Some believers whose loved ones had died were experiencing a grief that was, at least to a degree, unhealthy and unnecessary. Paul did not want them to sorrow like unbelievers, who have no hope for their departed loved ones (v. 13). After describing the second coming and assuring his readers of its certainty, he counsels, “Therefore encourage each other with these words” (v. 18). It is sometimes easy to forget that the eschatological truths in God’s Word, like the rest of his revelation, are intended to comfort and assure us. [Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology., 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1998), 1159–1160.]
For a current view on how pastors view the return of Christ, LifeWay recently conducted a survey on the topic. Here are some of the findings:
- Pastors are three times more likely to believe Christians can speed up the return of Christ by the spread of their faith than by backing certain geopolitical changes, according to a new study from Nashville-based LifeWay Research.
- Around 1 in 8 Protestant pastors (12 percent) believe Christians can speed up the second coming of Jesus by supporting geo-political changes mentioned in the Bible, with 5 percent strongly agreeing.
- Four in 5 pastors (80 percent) don't believe their support will have an impact on the timetable of Christ's return, including 61 percent who strongly disagree.
- During heighted conflicts with Syria, a 2013 LifeWay Research study found many Americans were likely to link global conflict with end times.
- Almost 1 in 3 saw the conflict as part of the Bible's plan for the end times. One in 4 thought a U.S. military strike in Syria could lead to Armageddon. And 1 in 5 believed the world would end in their lifetime, including 32 percent of evangelicals.
- White pastors (11 percent) are less likely to believe backing geo-political events will hasten Jesus' second coming than African American pastors (20 percent) or pastors of other ethnicities (22 percent).
- Pastors 65 and older (16 percent) are more likely to agree than those 18 to 44 (9 percent).
- Close to 2 in 5 (41 percent) believe Christians can hasten Jesus' second coming through world evangelism, while around half (54 percent) disagree.
- Denominationally, Pentecostal pastors (66 percent) are the most likely to agree Christians can speed up Jesus' return by sharing the Gospel with all people groups.
- Those with no college degree (56 percent) are more likely to agree than those with a degree.
- Whenever the second coming of Christ may be, most Protestant pastors believe immorality will be more common until Jesus returns.
- Almost 7 in 10 (68 percent) agree "culture will increasingly get less moral until Jesus Christ returns." Around a quarter (26 percent) disagree.
The Democratic Cold War on Christianity Heating Up
The Culture Wars of the last 30 years are slowly evolving into a Silent Cold War with leftist Democrats openly engaging on every front Christians and Christian-leaning companies and organizations. Do not be misled: this is a clash between two worldviews: a Western, Judeo-Christian worldview and a Marxist, secular-humanist worldview. If you read the end of the book (the Bible), you will find out which side wins, but there will be a world of hurt and turmoil before we reach that point where the King establishes His earthly Kingdom.
One of the great unknowns in terms of the future electorate is the effect the Democrats’ increasingly radical anti-faith stance will have on its voting coalition.Black and Hispanic Democrats tend to be far more religious than the white Democrats who are driving the party’s agenda. Will this alliance hold as the party increasingly kowtows to vocal anti-Christian Marxists? Will these voters start to defect as Democrats intensify their open war on people of faith?These questions arose this week when the sad story emerged that Chick-fil-A would no longer support three mainstream Christian-based charities; the Salvation Army, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Paul Anderson Youth Home, all under the auspices that they are anti-LGBTQ.Like the Salvation Army, Chick-fil-A never expected to find itself on the frontline in Democrats open war against Christianity. But, they were there nonetheless, and surrendering ground against these enemies was a mistake. The only way liberals will back off the attacks against Chick-fil-A is if the company heartily endorses and celebrates the full LGBTQ agenda. In other words, they expect either the destruction or total surrender of their religious foes.They elevated their attacks far beyond the usual slanderous name calling, which is really what put Chick-fil-A on the defensive. The fast food chain was under assault in every Democratic-controlled area and institution in the country. Democratic mayors in many key cities, to include Boston, Chicago, San Antonio, Buffalo, and San Jose worked to either prevent the restaurant from opening in the city or at its airport, or planned to drive it out. No doubt, Democrat governors would be the next to take up the fight. That they were all trigged by a chicken restaurant shows the powerful counter-cultural force its very existence conveyed.Democrats can no longer hide their contempt and hatred towards those who “cling to religion” and believe that the Bible is God’s word and means what it says. That’s really the rub. Liberals hate the Bible and they know if they can force people to compromise on Biblical teaching, Christianity will lose its effectiveness as a countercultural force.
David Jeremiah warns modern church is entertainment-driven social organization afraid of controversy
Pastor David Jeremiah, the senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, CA, recently urged the Church in America to stay true to its biblical calling and warned of the trap of trying to be relevant at the cost of it biblical teaching.
“The Church is coming under attack; it’s forgotten what the Church is supposed to be,” Jeremiah, founder of Turning Point Radio and Television Ministries, told The Christian Post. “We’re not an entertainment service; we’re not here to see how close we can get to what the world does. But there’s so much of the world in the Church and vice versa that we can’t tell a difference. We have to hold to the truth. We have to get nourished. If it’s not happening, you’re a social organization and not a church.”“There’s an incredible motivation on the part of everyone to be successful, and a lot of times people program their churches to see how many people will sit in the pews on Sunday,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with getting people there, as long as you share the Gospel. But there’s no glory in just a number.”“Don’t worship at the attendance altar,” Jeremiah advised. “A lot of good things happen in churches when there aren't huge numbers but the pastor has prepared a good message and there’s worship. We get off on this thing that we have to be bigger than the guy down the street and how to get more people in the building. When you’re focused on that, you’ll never preach anything that’s controversial and you’ll always be trying to figure out how to get more people to come.”“Here in California, we see interest on the part of millennials and younger for the Bible and for truth,” the pastor said. “Most of the time, we see statistics about how people are leaving the Church, but in many respects, young people are demanding more truth, more teaching, and less entertainment. They’re not interested in shallow expressions of religion.”“Christians have two major markers in their lives: When they become Christians, and when they go to Heaven. But most Christians don’t know what to do in between those two markers, and that’s because churches don’t teach them,” Jeremiah said. “The whole idea that God expects us to build character in our lives is a foreign thing to so many people because it hasn’t been taught and explained from our pulpits.”