Reset Switch

Christians need to wake up and start realizing that not only is this not a Christian Nation, we are quickly becoming the minority in a sea of unbelievers.

The Pew Research Report released this week reveals that only 4 out of 10 Millenials [those in their 20’s and 30’s] say that religion is important to their daily life. This means one thing: We are missionaries to American culture, like it or not.

A big part of why younger people are moving away from faith has to do, in part, with how Christians have communicated the Gospel in the last few decades. We’ve emphasized membership to an organization rather than behaviors that reflect the character of Christ. We’ve focused more on what we hate, forgetting that our mission was about love. We’ve been so consumed with being right that we’ve obliterated the very people we were supposed to embrace as Jesus did.

Now it’s time to rethink all of that. It’s time to repent and turn ourselves around.

Can we apologize for our insensitivity? Can we ask forgiveness of those we’ve condemned? Can we roll up our sleeves and get busy loving the lost, feeding the poor and clothing the naked? Can we work together to put the extravagant love of Jesus on display to a world that is, by now, fully convinced must simply not exist?

I believe it’s time. Someone needs to hit the reset button. We’ve got to abandon our old way of doing church and return to the feet of Jesus. We need to forget all we thought we knew and confess that it doesn’t work anymore – if it ever did at all.

Some people, like my friend Jonathan Grubbs, are starting to gather with people in their community who just want to talk about Jesus. Others, like my friend Scott Overpeck, have decided to go down to a local laundry mat to spend time getting to know a few low-income families and immigrant children who just need to make a friend who looks like Jesus. Still others have taken the time to share food and fellowship with dozens of people who live in a motel and bring the Church to them.

Honestly, the old "raise your hand if you don't want to burn in hell forever" script is part of the reason why so many young people are not interested in Jesus today.

Instead of trying to get young people to join a church, or to join a religious organization, we need to give them Jesus - just Jesus - and allow the Holy Spirit to do the rest.

Start simple. Share what you have. Paul never started things out with the Deity of Christ, or Escaping from Hell. What he talked about was "the unsearchable riches of Christ".

Most of all, we need to learn how to love people for who they are and where they are right now. Our love and acceptance of people shouldn't be conditional upon whether or not they agree with us on anything.

The Church not only has to change Her tactics, She also needs to change Her way of thinking. Like Jesus said, "Repent!" [Or “Metanoia”, which means to "think differently"].

One beautiful thing I’ve been experiencing as I’ve been leading these “Jesus Without Religion (Or Politics)” meetings is that I’m being transformed too. Through the process of meeting people where they are, and listening to their stories, Jesus is changing me, and changing them, all at the same time.

That’s probably one of the most important truths that the Church in America has forgotten; the idea that we need transformation as much anyone else does.

We can’t convince anyone else that they need Jesus if we are not also one hundred percent convinced that we need Jesus, too.

For many of us, the guard has already changed. We do not identify as denominationalists. We do not accept rigid creeds. We do not even necessarily refer to ourselves as "Christians" due to the negative connotations associated with that word.

We are "Followers of Jesus" who put His teachings and example above everything else. For us, it's not about establishing Christian power structures. It’s about discovering the astounding love of Jesus in our own lives, and sharing that same incredible love with others around us.

We are strangers and aliens here. This country is not ours. It is not our culture. But if we begin to follow Jesus and if we allow Him to lead the way, then there is a very good chance that the Kingdom of God will break into this place and transform every single one of us from the inside out, one person at a time.

What’s stopping us? Only ourselves.

Someone hit that reset button, please.

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EPISODE 13: Dan Notti & Keith Giles - "What Every Pastor Should Realize"

Evangelical Christianity is on a downward spiral in America. Why? What can be done? How can Pastors of Traditional Churches stem the tide? What does it mean for Organic Churches?

Listen as Keith and Dan speak candidly about the challenges facing the American Christian Church today and what is really holding back the Church from the growth and vitality that Jesus intended for it.

Follow Dan Notti's blog at:

www.DanNotti.com

Follow Keith Giles at:

www.KeithGiles.com

Welcome To Post Christian America

A new study from the Pew Research Center has found the population of Christians in the United States is on a downward spiral.

Polling 35,000 Americans aged 18 and older, the poll found that over the last seven years, those calling themselves “Christian” has diminished by 8 percent overall. That’s about 5 million people who have moved out of the Christian faith since 2007.

This new demographic is being called the "Nones" (as in "None of the above") or the "Dones" (as in "Done with religion").

Even more eye-opening is what researchers are identifying as the cause for the ongoing exodus away from the Christian faith:

“Traditionally, we thought religion was the mover and politics were the consequence,” said Mike Hout, a New York University sociologist and demographer. However, today more and more are leaving Christian denominations because “they saw them align with a conservative political agenda and they don’t want to be identified with that.”

Other researchers, like Religion Dispatches writer Sarah Posner also points out that, “politically speaking, evangelicals, and in particular white evangelicals, have been highly politically organized for decades,” and that trend’s not stopping anytime soon.

So, while some Evangelical Christians can point to this latest report as proof that they need to “redouble their efforts in the culture war”, the truth is that they are actually to blame for creating their own problem.

Yes, it is very troubling to note that many young people are turning away from the Christian faith. But, are these people truly rejecting legitimate Christianity, or are they actually rejecting a political ideology that is only masquerading as Christianity?

I would argue the latter is more the case.

Christians in America are in effect practicing a very self-destructive form of Reverse Evangelism and not only repelling those who are still outside their walls, but alienating many of those who once considered themselves part of the team.

Yet, even as more and more people identify themselves less and less as “Christians” they are – at the same time – identifying more and more as “spiritual but not religious”. This indicates a desire to connect with God, and perhaps even with Jesus, but they seek to do so outside the typical constraints of American Christianity. Why? Mostly because this brand of American Christianity largely defines itself politically as an offshoot of the Conservative Republican party, and camps out on pet issues like Gay Marriage and Abortion while ignoring issues that Jesus seemed to care most about like Poverty, Violence, Oppression, and Exploitation of the weakest in our society.

As my friend Ross Rohde notes:

“My biggest concern is the damage this does to the Kingdom. We say Jesus is Lord, but we entangle ourselves with the equivalent of the "foreign wives" of the Old Testament. If we can't untangle ourselves from these strange infatuations, strange loves, then we really aren't following Jesus at all. We are treating Him like he is here for our salvation, our convenience, and we don't have any responsibility in the relationship. That's not treating Jesus as our Lord, it is treating him like a slave we don't respect. Jesus is Lord, we are to follow Him, not some foreign bride."

I couldn’t agree more. But what can we do about this? How can we turn back this troubling tide?

We don’t.

In fact, I would argue that no one can and we shouldn’t even try.

What we’re seeing here is a very natural reaction to an empty, man-made religion which is more political than spiritual, and that is a very, very good thing. If nothing else it shows that people are smart enough to realize when something doesn’t smell right and they’re willing to walk away from it entirely in pursuit of something more authentic and pure.

Rather than reverse this process, we should find a way to meet with these spiritual nomads and provide opportunities to address their deepest concerns and respond to their spiritual hunger for more God and less politics.

How do we do this? One idea I’ve had recently is to start a Meet Up group online for those who are interested in “Jesus Without Religion”, and to start getting together once a week with anyone and everyone who wants to learn more about who Jesus is, and what Jesus taught, and how to follow Jesus without any religious, denominational, or political strings attached.

Maybe you have another idea? I'd love to hear it. But regardless of how we go about it, the urgency is clear. The game is changing and if we don't adapt to that change, we will miss a huge opportunity to advance the Kingdom and share the Gospel.

FACT: The sooner we give up the idea of ever returning to the “Good old days” when Christianity was the norm and everyone went to Church on Sunday, and kids went to Sunday School, and shops were closed on Sunday so everyone could spend time with their Church family, the sooner we can start adapting to the actual world we really do live in right here and right now – a world where almost no one knows the Bible stories, or can sing “Jesus Loves Me”, or understands what Flannel graph is.

We live in the midst of a vast mission field where more and more people do not know the Gospel, have no idea who Jesus really is, and do not own or read the Bible.

Welcome to Post Christian America.

This is our chance to get it right.

This is our time to shine.

We were born for such a time as this.


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[This article is Part 13 in the "Jesus Untangled" Series]

Read the entire "Jesus Untangled" series:
Part 1: "Jesus Untangled"

Part 2: "Who Are We?"

Part 3: "Why Do People Think I'm A Liberal?"

Part 4: "Still Embracing Constantine?"

Part 5: How American Evangelicalism Has Been Exploited, by Ross Rohde

Part 6: The Entanglement Agenda

Part 7: "What Would Jesus Say About The American Revolution?" by Chuck McKnight

Part 8: "Ambassadors of Contrast"

Part 9: “AWOL Christian Soldiers”
Part 10: "The Elephant In The Church"

Part 11: "Christian American Horror Story"
Part 12: "Our True Source of Liberty" by Ross Rohde

Part 13: "Welcome To Post Christian America"

Part 14: "What Would Wilberforce Do?"
Part 15: "Crucify Your Politics"