Dec
10
Written by:
Dennis Atwood
12/10/2009 2:08 PM
I read in this morning’s Raleigh News & Observer about a recently released report from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. It further confirms the new realities facing Christians, churches, and church leaders. We must all wake up and smell the blended faith!In a nutshell, it is a “build-your-own-religion” approach—much like building your own ice-cream sundae. Here are a few interesting thoughts from this study to consider:
- It is now the norm for Americans to blend multiple religious beliefs and practices--from Christianity to Buddhism to New Age.
- Pop culture and the Internet and are probably more powerful teachers than Sunday School teachers (Scot Thumma- Hartford Institute for Religion Research).
- These survey results illustrate the “playlist effect” in contemporary religious practice, i.e., we personalize our religious lives in much the same way that we personalize our iPhones (D. Michael Lindsay, Rice University).
What to do? Here’s a beginning list:
1) Let’s admit that we live in a world that has changed exponentially over the past couple of decades.
2) Let’s acknowledge that we must seek to better understand these realities in order to effectively pass along a meaningful coherent Christian faith to our children and to those around us.
3) Let’s admit that we don’t like to deal with this. It’s uncomfortable and often confusing.
4) Let’s also admit that we must deal with these new realities if biblical Christianity is to thrive in the coming decades in America.
5) Let's commit toward being more Christian in practice than Baptist in principle. The two don't always go together in the time in which we live.
6) Finally, let’s commit to love and pray, to be authentic and real, to be open toward others, to be courageous in this urgent challenge to become the church that Jesus wants us to be.
It’s a start. What do you think?