Getting To The Heart Of The Matter
Has Christian America Come To An End?
By Mark Driscoll
Pastor, Mars Hill Church
Has Christian America come to an end? That question has been hotly debated since Newsweek published their recent feature story reporting that the number of Americans claiming no religious affiliation has nearly doubled since 1990. Additionally, the percentage of self-identified Christians has dropped ten points in the past two decades.
As an evangelical pastor with one of America’s fastest-growing churches in one of its least churched cities, I do not find the report surprising or discouraging. Newsweek missed the subtle — but vital — difference between Christian America and Christendom America.
Read the rest >>
I grew up in the Bible Belt (Tennessee) and I am extremely familiar with the so-called 'culture wars.' For instance, the church I grew up in had record burnings in the early 1980s, we watched "Hells Bells: The Dangers of Rock and Roll Music" in the early 1990s and we watched a video about abortion in Sunday School class. We did the "Pure & Sure" thing. We did the door-to-door campaigning against liquor by the drink in my hometown as well. So, yeah, I'm steeped in the 'culture wars.'
Having a background in this, I've heard so many times that we need to "take America back." This response (the article above) reflects my views about the matter. I think we've lived under a false impression for a long time and the recent polls shouldn't discourage so much as clarify what has really been going on for decades in our country.
Christendom America is comprised of those people who have not had a truly transforming experience with Jesus Christ and are living lives virtually indistinguishable from those who are non-Christians. The confusion is that it was common in Christendom for people who did not practice Christianity to profess Christianity. This was often done for social reasons, such as living in a culture that expected church affiliation, being born into a religious tradition and assuming it was simply part of one’s identity (like a cultural or racial connection), or personally, socially, and vocationally benefitting from being connected, even loosely, to a church or denomination. Researchers such as George Barna have documented the fact that, as Jesus himself said, not everyone who says he or she is a Christian is in fact one.
By Mark Driscoll
Pastor, Mars Hill Church
Has Christian America come to an end? That question has been hotly debated since Newsweek published their recent feature story reporting that the number of Americans claiming no religious affiliation has nearly doubled since 1990. Additionally, the percentage of self-identified Christians has dropped ten points in the past two decades.
As an evangelical pastor with one of America’s fastest-growing churches in one of its least churched cities, I do not find the report surprising or discouraging. Newsweek missed the subtle — but vital — difference between Christian America and Christendom America.
Read the rest >>
I grew up in the Bible Belt (Tennessee) and I am extremely familiar with the so-called 'culture wars.' For instance, the church I grew up in had record burnings in the early 1980s, we watched "Hells Bells: The Dangers of Rock and Roll Music" in the early 1990s and we watched a video about abortion in Sunday School class. We did the "Pure & Sure" thing. We did the door-to-door campaigning against liquor by the drink in my hometown as well. So, yeah, I'm steeped in the 'culture wars.'
Having a background in this, I've heard so many times that we need to "take America back." This response (the article above) reflects my views about the matter. I think we've lived under a false impression for a long time and the recent polls shouldn't discourage so much as clarify what has really been going on for decades in our country.
Christendom America is comprised of those people who have not had a truly transforming experience with Jesus Christ and are living lives virtually indistinguishable from those who are non-Christians. The confusion is that it was common in Christendom for people who did not practice Christianity to profess Christianity. This was often done for social reasons, such as living in a culture that expected church affiliation, being born into a religious tradition and assuming it was simply part of one’s identity (like a cultural or racial connection), or personally, socially, and vocationally benefitting from being connected, even loosely, to a church or denomination. Researchers such as George Barna have documented the fact that, as Jesus himself said, not everyone who says he or she is a Christian is in fact one.
posted by Daniel at
9:41 AM
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