One of the foundational questions asked by Christians throughout history has been, "Can people experience life after death?" But with the faith's declining numbers, waning political influence, and marred image among the general public, the question has now been turned back on believers themselves: "Can Christians experience life after the death of "Christian America?"
Though it is never phrased in those exact words, that question forms the basis of a provocative new book by Gabe Lyons entitled, The Next Christians: The Good News About the End of Christian America (Doubleday).
Seven years ago, Lyons was a rising star in the evangelical Christian community. Having been raised in a Christian home, he went on to graduate from Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, serve as a vice-president in an influential Christian organization, and co-found the Catalyst Conference, the largest annual gathering of young Christian leaders in America. There was only one problem: he was embarrassed to call himself "Christian."
Lyons recognized that the once noble label had tarnished in America, and the research he commissioned for his bestselling book Unchristian confirmed it. A majority of young people now see Christians as anti-gay, judgmental, hypocritical, and too political, the book demonstrated. Combine such perceptions with the aforementioned trends and you've got what Jon Meacham of Newsweek calls "The End of Christian America."
It's an idea that frustrates or downright frightens many Christians. You might envision the bristled silence in the offices of the Family Research Council or Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission as employees read that Newsweek headline. A world in which Christians aren't kingmakers, they believe, is a world destined for downfall.
Lyons, on the other hand, is optimistic. He thinks the end of Christian America is good news--not just for unbelievers, but for Christians as well. In The Next Christians, Lyons says that young Christians aren't separatists like old guard fundamentalists or fully enmeshed in culture like some liberal Christians. Instead, the next Christians straddle the two approaches through expressing six characteristics.
"When Christians incorporate these [six] characteristics throughout the fabric of their lives, a fresh yet orthodox way of being Christian springs forth," Lyons writes. "The death of yesterday becomes the birth of a great tomorrow. The end of an era becomes a beautiful new beginning. In this way, the end of Christian America becomes good news for Christians."
For example, he says the next Christians are "provoked" to restore the world rather than "offended" by it's brokenness. And they feel "called" to carry out their life's mission in the workplace rather than simply "employed" to complete a task from nine to five. If the number of Christians embodying these characteristics continues to rise, he argues, they might restore the faith in America.
At first glance, one might be tempted to dismiss such a perspective as wishful thinking. But Lyons' is more than a blind optimist. The Next Christians carefully weaves together relevant research, compelling stories illustrating his assertions, and insight from hundreds of focus groups he has conducted over the last three years.
The end product is a convincing, if ambitious, attempt to map out the next iteration of America's most influential religious group. If you are interested in the future of faith in America and are looking for an accessible, insightful book to keep you company this winter, Lyons' book won't disappoint. A timely, much needed perspective, The Next Christians is good news for us all.
Jonathan Merritt is a faith and culture writer and author of Green Like God: Unlocking the Divine Plan for Our Planet (2010), which Publishers Weekly called, "a must read for churchgoers."
Follow Jonathan Merritt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jonathanmerritt
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You said *In this way, the end of Christian America becomes good news for Christians* but I say it will be good news for sinners and saints alike.
The term Christian means "one in the likeness of the anointed son of man." The Bible say "when we see him [the christ] we shall be like him" and Jesus the anointed liberated sinners from the jaws of their sins, such as the woman at the well and the one caught in adultery. He said and demonstrated we are to have no one place to lay our heads which will also be our way of life. How can people call themselves Christians and expect to live contrary to how the anointed one lived?
The only way Gabe Lyons can expect what is said here, he has only to have called the words of the Bible without knowing their definitions. But I'm not surprised, when those calling themselves Christians talk about being modestly dressed they don't know the word means "dress minimally." When Jesus taught us to be like the birds and grass (Matthew 6:24-34) we don't realize he's saying farming and saving isn't Christians' way, weaving clothes isn't our way, but like the birds we find our needs or people throw us seeds, or like the grass our covering grows on us like all animals (Daniel 4:33). Nebuchadnezzar is an example of how the true Jews & actual Israel will be when we enter the millennium.
Best,
Jm
Declining numbers? Not for many Christian churches in America, particularly evangelical churches.
Waning political influence? Plenty of evidence for the opposite position.
Marred public image? Possibly.
I appreciate the review but think the author should get more up to date with the sociology of American religion, which has a much more muted and nuanced understanding of secularization theory than Lyons appears to be working from.
Actually, YES, Christians in the West are facing declining numbers across the board. Mainline Protestants are anemic and many are falling off dramatically. Evangelical denominations may show slight growth, but those with a nuanced understanding of sociology compare this to population growth and find that these denominations are also shrinking in percentage of the population. Even the SBC is feeling this phenomenon as LifeWay Research has shown.
And, YES, we are finding that they have experienced a drop in political influence. Check out the numbers on self-described Christians and their party affiliation. More and more we are finding that they are centrists (a 10% increase among younger Christians from 2004 to 2008 alone). With the death or retirement of many religious-political leaders, we've found that young people don't desire to fill the void. Add to this the struggling finances and massive lay offs at organizations like Focus on the Family and The Christian Coalition and you've got an iron clad case for such an assertion.
I've done my homework here and it is backed up by numerous studies conducted by Public Religion Research, Ellison, Omni, Barna, LifeWay, and Pew.
Jm
And there is a difference between collecting survey data and correctly interpreting its significance. A hard and fast correlation between the decline of denominational affiliation and a general waning of religiosity across the U.S. population is a challengeable assertion. I would refer you to the work of sociologist Mark Chaves on secularization theory, where he has noted a decline in some forms of religious authority but not of religiosity per se in either the private or commnal spheres.
Appreciate the exchange and the article. -Oka
While on one hand it is great that you guys are keeping up with the time but my question is this (not a snark, I am really curious), why do you still call yourself a Christian if you don't accept the literal interpretation of the bible, why not just take the best lesson from the bible and create a new religion?
Where do you draw the line on what parts to follow and which ones to discard?
Besides, biblical literalism is a relatively recent historical development in the history of Christiandom. Several prominent theologians throughout history clearly did not take every passage of the Bible literally.
Would you take a SciFi book literally? Doesn't the Bible, and all scriptures, read like SciFi? Then, why not believe SciFi as literal facts?
In my search for truth I've found all religious texts, written or oral, are metaphors, allegories, parables and symbol/types [MAPS] directing man into understanding existence. Who can even dream of accepting the 2 creation stories as facts? The first story indicates man were segregated on day 1 and prevented from reintegrating on 2, land was formed on 3, heavenly lights placed on 4, birds and fish made on 5, all other animals including man of both genders and their diets on 6 and rest day and reviewed on 7.
The second story begins at 2:4 with a preview, barren earth and need for a man to till it. Then comes the forming and providing life in 1 man, planting a garden including 2 abstract trees, forming both genders of birds and animals in search for his help meet, operates on the man producing the other gender, tells them to "leave mother and father" they didn't have and integrate themselves into a single flesh, which is impossible. So, how do you believe that literally?
Some onHufPo seem to believe that the financial elite are draining the system and 'we' are apathetic. But this is ‘sought’ or allowed by those who seek to escape responsibility for their lives. To seek escape in poverty is no different from hiding in the dogma of a political or religious group. The failure to live is most often replaced with a power drive, so our new religion will be outright warmongering. The goal of all addiction (to imperialism) is to fail, while having a plausible excuse, such as alcohol, or 'God said...', or '9/11...'. The GOPers recently blaming homeowners for the recession is 'good' psychology, and it is no different from a preacher blaming the congregation for enjoying sex and eating fish on Fridays. Strangely enough, most homeowners will blame themselves, not the system.
All babies are born atheists---it is only through saturation from birth with religious propaganda that people come to believe in ancient superstitions. For most of the history of Western Civilization the Church was politically powerful enough to enforce this indoctrination. The iron grip of religious institutions on the throat of the public began to slip starting with The Enlightenment, but it has been waning sharply as science, coupled with new investigative historical and archeological studies debunk most of the christian and earlier "scripture" as mere "mythology". As such, the ruthless enforcement of subjecting the public to a constant stream of religious propaganda has eased---allowing doubt and dissent to flourish.
Disgust with the arrogance, ignorance and shrillness of most of christian America may play some role in the decline of christianity here, but the major player in declining numbers of professed christians in America is the growing recognition among educated and successful people that religion is irrelevant and backwards. As such, America is starting to mirror trends seen in other advanced countries in Europe and Asia where agnostic/atheists have long outnumbered believers by hefty percentages.
-gandi
I know absolutely that when I die and drift off into the ether. I really don't have time or the inclination to study or read that old fairy tale book written by hateful fear mongers. As for myself what the Bible says about life is irrelevant today. Jesus may have been a good man but that is all he was.
When your time comes to die you will be scared out of your skull. These certainties you profess to know now will still be open questions. You will meet your maker and then find out what reward awaits a mocker of God.
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Nope. Been very near death and had family members die. The idea of god(s) or an afterlife never entered my mind.
--These certainties you profess to know now will still be open questions. You will meet your maker and then find out what reward awaits a mocker of God.
Torture? That sure sounds like a loving father. Not.
--Be not deceived; God is not mocked
Yes he is. Watch: God is a myth.
I skydive for fun and instead of being scared I am going to die, the prospect of dying makes me feel more alive than ever before. And no, god never entered the equation
But "Christian America" usually means that you want our government to be a theocracy. It will never happen. Separation of church and state is here to stay. Railing against it is spitting into the wind.
I am weary of God and Jesus and Christianity and church and scripture being abusively used in the service of or as an excuse for or a justification for: death, war, murder, destruction, violence, oppression, condemnation, retribution, vengeance, hate, fear, slavery, systemic injustice, oppression, condemnation, retribution, exclusion, segregation, discrimination, sectarianism and censorship. I reject these actions. These actions are evil, are not of God or from God, are no part of the Good News message, are not how life is lived in the Kingdom of God.
On Sunday, October 31, 2010 at dmergent.org, the Second Reformation will begin. On the 493rd anniversary of the first reformation, God and Jesus and church and the Good News message and Christian theology will be reclaimed. A faith of hope will replace the faith of fear. A faith of love will replace the faith of hate. A faith of universal inclusion will replace the faith of exclusion. A faith that holds justice as healing and rehabilitation and restoration will replace the faith that holds justice as abandonment and abuse and obliteration.
For a more detailed insight into the theology of the Second Reformation, click on this link to read the article “RECLAIMING FORGIVENESS – it’s personal”
http://dmergent.org/2010/08/19/reclaiming-forgiveness-its-personal/
At the bottom of that article, there are links to six (6) other relevant articles.
Until October 31…
Peace,
Douglas C. Sloan
I was at my local 27 bed hospital waiting on someone to complete a routine procedure. The local chaplain and I talked. She is a Presbyterian by practice and she has stopped calling herself a Christian after the behaviors of a lot of Christians in the news.
I believe that organized religion is a form of violence to the human soul. I know, I watch in great sadness as my family thinks they will be in heaven and that is when they will finally be happy. This is a tragedy.
We need to live in reality, not in a myth.
It’s not clear to me why this is “good news”. I don’t need anybody preaching at me while I work. I’m going to hope (against the odds) that I can retire before the workplace is Next Xianized.
Here's my advice to Christians who want to give their faith a better public image: just shut up about it. Go pray in private. Do all your testifying and preaching in church and among yourselves. Stop trying to force feed the rest of us your version of the eternal truths. We've heard enough.
But the point was already made and it happens to be one I fully agree with. 99% of American "Christians" are many things, but followers of Christ is not one of them.