6 Trends Facing Christians

Recently the editor of Christianity Today magazine, David Neff, identified 6 trends facing Christians in the U.S. Here are my notes from his informal, insightful presentation:

TREND 1: People are choosing their moral framework.Alan Wolfe argues in Moral Freedom: The Search For Virtue In a World of Choice (W.W. Norton, 2001) that we have a moral consensus in America, but it’s built largely around tolerance. A large percentage of those surveyed disapprove of homosexual activity, for example, but few want to impose that disapproval on anyone.

Wolfe points out that in the 19th century, economic freedoms emerged; in the 20th century, political freedoms emerged, and in the 21st century, moral freedoms are emerging. People today are born into a time when no moral background binds them, and so they freely adopt a moral framework for themselves. Surprisingly, this is true even for conservative Christians. While holding to the value of the Ten Commandments, they view the Ten Commandments as an avenue to personal growth rather than as a matter of duty, obedience, community, and tradition.

TREND 2: Conservative Christians expect less from religion’s involvement in politics.The evangelical vote was key to getting Bush elected, but that can’t hide the fact that the Religious Right has crashed and burned. Important leaders of the Religious Right such as Dr. James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, and Pat Robertson, seem to hold less political influence than they had even a few years ago.

The need for a new approach to Christian political engagement has led three different groups to work on such a theory: (1) a group sponsored by the National Association of Evangelicals, with Ron Sider as chair and Tom Minnery, vice-president of public policy for Focus on the Family, as vice-chair; (2) a project of the Ethics and Public Policy Center funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts; (3) a group convened by Gordon College.

TREND 3: Young evangelicals increasingly support living together.Many young people make no instinctive connection between sex and procreation. A generation raised with the birth control pill has lost that connection.

A study by the Evangelical Alliance (British counterpart to the National Association of Evangelicals) found that a third of evangelicals between the ages of 18 and 35 say they have no problem with cohabitation. The statistic is “even more shocking,” says the report, considering that just six years ago, only 28 percent of young evangelicals approved of couples living together without marriage.

These statistics show where U.S. evangelicals probably soon will be. “It is in this area that the biggest problems will be faced both by the church and the individuals concerned when those living together wish, say, to join (or even come) to church, or become believers,” says the report.

The good news is that the 33-percent number still trails far behind the 83 percent of non-Christians who approve of cohabitation. And some young people are saying strongly, “Don’t soften the traditional teaching; make the teaching more clear.”

TREND 4: Christians increasingly encounter people of other religions.The number of Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim worship centers is rapidly increasing in American suburbs. Formerly, most world religions, in order to gain a foothold in America, were heavily Americanized — for example, the Hindu teaching of reincarnation, which is something to be avoided, was reframed for American optimism as something positive, a second chance. But now, world religions are flourishing on American soil in their traditional forms.

“We need to teach more clearly,” says Neff, “knowledge of the subtle variations within these religions. The old, anti-cult approach, this-is-what’s-wrong-with-these-religions, hasn’t helped Christians know how to talk with their new neighbors.”

TREND 5: The church has the opportunity to help with aging and elder-care issues.As 76 million Baby Boomers and their parents age, the fear of Alzheimer’s is one “we’re all facing.” Yet issues of aging are difficult to talk about. When members of the older generation have a problem, they grit their teeth and get through it; they see little value in talking about it. The younger generation, more influenced by the therapeutic culture, needs to talk about issues in order to solve them. Mary Pipher’s book Another Country helps Boomers talk with their parents about aging issues.

For Boomers who live at least several states away from their parents, church-based volunteer programs could be developed that would keep the children informed of their parents’ health and mental functioning. This would be a godsend for adult offspring who can tell only so much from telephone calls. Early-warning messages from their parents’ church could make a big difference in the successful management of aging.

TREND 6: The Latino population is growing rapidly and becoming more Protestant.With each passing generation, according to a recent study reported in the Los Angeles Times, more Hispanics convert from Catholicism to Protestantism. Specifically, Hispanic immigrants to the United States are about 74 percent Catholic, 18 percent Protestant. Their children are 66 percent Catholic, 25 percent Protestant. By the third generation, the split is 59 percent Catholic, 32 percent Protestant. And the majority of all the Latino non-Catholics consider themselves evangelicals. Anglo churches must adjust to this rapid growth with new attitudes, new ministries and new churches.

—David Neff is editor of Christianity Today, the leading source for news and commentary from a Christian perspective. To subscribe, click here

To reply to David, write Newsletter@LeadershipJournal.net.