Becoming Authentic

         

I am sure most of you have seen or heard of the latest poll results from the Pew Research Center pertaining to religion in the United States (For those of you who have not, here is the link to their official site). The media has been abuzz this past week with headlines that proclaim Christianity is on the decline, and the numbers of those who refer to themselves as being unaffiliated with any religion  is on the rise. However, these headlines can be quite misleading if you don't look at the research for yourself. It has been my experience that, in these types of situations or most situations, it is better to go straight to the source. The purpose of this post is to examine the Evangelical church as it relates to this poll, what it means for Evangelicals, and what I believe the answer is.

I have provided an image of the main chart here on right side of the post for you to get a quick visual rundown of the statistics. At first glance, these statistics are quite unnerving if you find yourself in the Christian camp. As the graph clearly shows, there has been a 0.9 percent decrease of the total population that claims to be Evangelical, a 6.7 percent increase in the total population that is unaffiliated,  Catholics with a 3.1 percent decrease, Mainline Protestant 3.4 percent decrease, and a 1.2 percent increase of those in other faiths (Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, etc.). If you are looking at this chart and are an Evangelical, like myself, you are probably thinking to yourself that things are not looking good for us; but you should be aware that as the percentage of the total population leaving other denominations increases, as well as those becoming unaffiliated and joining other faiths increases, our market share is going to decrease. 

So what do these numbers then mean for us? I think it means that the way that we have been doing church needs to change. But before I get to that, if you will just give me a moment to climb upon my soap box and tackle an issue that I believe has gone unaddressed and avoided for far too long and with far too many reasons  excuses.

Christianity in this country, quite honestly, whether you want to accept it or not, is under attack. Now that I have that statement out of the way let me begin by saying that we have it easy as Christians in the United States. Are we being murdered for our faith? No. Are we being beheaded? No. Are we being imprisoned? No. However, this is happening to our brothers and sisters in the Middle East, yet there are not too many of us who seem to be concerned; in fact, if many of us were in their shoes, when a gun was placed to our heads we would gratefully give up our faith. One of the reasons the percentage of the population who claim to be Christians in this country is on the decline is because we absolutely refuse to take a stand. We have allowed ourselves to enter in to a time where the only religion that it is okay, nay accepted, and expected, to be made fun of and degraded in this country is Christianity. And let me be the first to admit, there is much that can be made fun of about the American Church as it is today. If we will be honest with ourselves, I believe we can concede that we have given society a lot of ammunition. But let me just ask this one question: Whenever the contest for drawing the Prophet Muhammad happened in Texas, and two jihadists showed up with the intention of massacring those in attendance. Who was it that the media chastised? Was it radical Islam? The short answer, no. But if you turn the channel and happen to land on Family Guy, you will most likely see a depiction of Jesus Christ that is obscenely irreverent yet where is the ridicule of Seth McFarland from the media? Heck, in just about every television show Christians are made to be the fool. Yet we just sit idly by; so why should it come as a surprise to anyone that our numbers are in decline and that everyone has remained silent on the treatment of Christians in the Middle East and other parts of the world?

Now let me get in to the nitty gritty of the main reason I think that there is a decline in the church, especially among millennials. In this chart on the right you will notice that the number of those who claim to be Evangelicals is actually experiencing growth; in fact, from the research provided by the Pew Research Center, poll-conductors say that the amount of growth might actually be higher than that which is charted due to their margin for error. (Americas Changing Religious Landscape, 9) So what then is the big deal? Why are so many people leaving other denominations? Why is the number of those who claim no religious affiliation growing? And why is it that the Evangelicals seem to be the only ones experiencing growth? I think that it has a lot to do with this one word and that is authenticity. Let me first say that I am not going to say that Evangelicals have it all together when it comes to actually being authentic in the way that we do church. In fact, my biggest frustrations that I have with the Church is the sheer lack of authenticity; but I will say that I believe we are doing better than most, though we could definitely do better.

For those of you who are like me, and by like me I mean a millennial, we have the good fortune of being the Church's target demographic. Since this is the case, there has been a drastic shift on the way things are done inside of our churches. Perhaps the largest attempt to gain our attendance is the use of "relevance". The church has become obsessed with being culturally relevant. We have become so consumed in our quest for this seemingly mystical and mythological position of relevance that we have, in some cases, compromised in key areas. Please understand me, I am not talking about allowing people to drink, (I cannot in good conscience say that this is sin), or people who do not attend church every single Sunday morning/night and Wednesday. This is not what I mean when I refer to compromise. When I say compromise what I mean is exchanging the truth of scripture, the black and white, plain as day word of God, for something less. In fact, we have compromised in many more areas than just our doctrine. Our worship, in many cases, has become more like a concert than focusing on and tuning our hearts to God. Our sermons have become more like pep-rallies instead of challenging us to better ourselves, and to actually think about the scriptures for ourselves. We scream that we offer community from the mountain tops, yet we are prone to cliques. The Evangelical church of the west has sacrificed authenticity on the altar of relevance, and it is time we resurrect her. Authenticity, in word and in deed, is what the millennial seeker is starving for. It isn't all about the fancy lights and awesome songs. It isn't about singing strictly from the hymnal and only having an organ either. I believe there can be, and is, authenticity in both. It is time the Church takes a good hard look and that we ask ourselves if we are being authentic. 

Being authentic, for me at least, consists of several things and I think that many of you can agree with most of if not all of them. (These are in no particular order).

1. Becoming missional minded.
So many times in the Church we become so consumed with what is going on inside the four walls of our buildings that we forget the Church is made up of people and that there are more of them outside the walls than there are on the inside.

2. Being honest.
So many times we tend to not be honest. And it isn't that we lie intentionally, but it does mean that a lot of our teachings and doctrine exist because of something man has said, not something God has said directly through scripture. Being honest also means accepting and understanding that we are not finished struggling with our sinful nature until we reach Heaven. If we could, then why did Christ die in the first place? Understand, however, I'm not trying to excuse sin. We must always be repentant and allow the Holy Spirit to guide, grow, and change us.

3.Understanding that worship begins in the heart.
It isn't about the songs that we sing but who we are singing to.

4. Understanding that Spiritual gifts are not strictly meant for church services.
This point comes from my charismatic back ground. So many times I hear people say, "Oh that church is not spiritual because they don't end every service with a major altar call," or "Only one person or maybe no one speaks in tongues." This mentality has got to stop. If we restrict the Holy Spirit to Sunday morning, and that is the only time we exercise our gifts, then we are the ones who are missing the mark. I believe that is what I have heard many preachers refer to as becoming "spiritually fat"; your cup is running over, but it is not running over on to anyone else and you end up drowning.

5. Increasing our focus on discipleship.
Often times we tend to forsake the few for the many, and instead of encouraging community we do the opposite. Jesus spent the majority of his time with the 12, not with the multitudes; just remember it was the 12 who changed the world, not the thousands who were eventually calling for his death.

6. Finding balance. By finding balance, I mean that we need to strike the perfect harmony between being authentic and relevant. We can still be relevant without having to sacrifice the fundamentals of the faith. In situations, where faith and culture cannot be reconciled the Church should not become transformed by culture, rather the Church should work towards transforming Culture. This should always be done through love, and relationships, and showing the world that what we have to offer is better.