Once again, more proof than even though some churches are "growing" its largely not from new conversions. It is unfortunately, largely due to "transfer growth." Not good news but definitely fits my common experience and interactions with non-Christians.
A couple of notes, in this article "unaffiliated" does not mean non-denominational but no religion at all.
Also, nearly 25% of Americans have LEFT the faith of their childhood. The unaffiliated is outgrowing the rest by 3 to 1.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23337807
Brothers and sisters, the fastest growing religion in the U.S. is not Mormonism, Islam, Jehovah's Witnesses, or anything else you have heard. The fastest growing religion in the U.S. is in fact secularism. I think Driscoll was right when he said in the appendix to "Radical Reformission" that as these trends continue we will see a culture look more and more like the pagan ones in the Old and New Testaments. The parallels are getting closer by the day (makes preaching and teaching easier).
At the same time it should be said, this is a tremendous opportunity to see God move. In my opinion this also says that traditional means of church growth are dead. (By traditional, I mean denomitionally accepted methods that worked in previous generations, not the principles taught in scripture that apply to all people.) We must learn to be missionaries and rediscover the eternal relevance of the gospel.
Monday, February 25, 2008
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4 comments:
"Transfer growth" is one of the most frustrating concepts alive in our Christian world today. This was my major problem with a certain unnamed mega-church in Sydney. They weren't really converting new Christians, but swallowing up people from smaller churches around them. We actually lost a youth worker from our tiny Anglican church...one that we desperately needed! He left to become a face in the sea of the mega-church.
That's not evangelism, that's stealing!
This kind of "transfer growth" is happening all over American in different arenas. Small towns are dying as people move to the big city for jobs and amenities. Small businesses struggle to compete with Walmart and other superstores. I'm not sure it's fair to blame the megachurch for shrinking smaller churches any more than we can blame big cities for killing small towns. People make their own free choices....
I'm not quite sure how to react to news like this that "Christianity" in America is in decline. On the one hand, it is concerning because our desire is for everyone everywhere to choose Jesus, but on the other hand, we trust that God is good and he is in control and all things will ultimately work to his glory. I believe that every person is responsible to make their own choice to follow or reject Jesus. Believing parents are no guarantee of believing children. Every generation must be converted. With that, God is sovereign to call to himself all whom he chooses. There is no obligation on God to maintain a "Christian" majority in America. We should not conclude that God is in any way out of control or losing the battle for America. Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him. (Psalm 115:3)
While, ideally, we'd all like to see a strong foundation of walking Christians who not only verbally claim to be Christians, but also demonstrate it and make decisions accordingly - however, we live in a fallen world where each generation seems to get further and further from God.
I like how Paul put it, in that each generation needs to be converted, and we can't rely on the faith of the family to be of help in that arena for an individual's life, however sad it may be to say.
I've said it many times, but in my experience and work globally, I think we're 10-15 years behind Europe in the declination towards God. Values are shifting, the 'religion' of our forefathers is certainly being resisted for the progessive lifestyle and moral compass. But, like Paul said, that doesn't mean God's not in control or that He's forgotten this nation.
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