Does Christianity have a future ? Part 1

Christianity seems to be in retreat in every aspect of our culture today. In many ways, we have insulated ourselves from the world, which has lead to the creation of a Christian subculture. Many will argue that we no longer have a place in the public square and that we’ve lost our ability to communicate and dialogue with those who do not believe the same things that we do.

In light of the seeming retreat of Christianity in our culture today, we who care about our Christian faith need to consider what Christianity in America will look like over the next 40 years and how we can change the face of how our faith is perceived by the culture. But first, we must understand what has shaped Christianity in the post-modern era that we find ourselves in today.

George Barna, a well-known researcher, has been studying cultural trends as it relates to Christianity since 1984. His recent study conducted among 16 to 29 year olds shows that a new generation is emerging that is more skeptical of and resistant to Christianity than of people of the same age just a decade ago.

Barna’s new study confirms the findings of Thom S. Rainer in his book, The Bridger Generation, published in the late 1990s. Rainer studied four generations that helped to define the culture of the 20th Century. What he found is alarming. Seventy-one million people born between 1984 and 2002, roughly 1/3 of the U.S. population labeled as Generation Y is projected to overwhelmingly reject a Biblically-based worldview. Rainer also states that only 4% of this age group will embrace a Biblical worldview that puts Christ in the center of their lives.

Statistics show that morals and values have been on the decline for years. What has fueled the moral decline?

Our culture is facing mass problems, for example abortion, disunity in the body of Christ, consumerism, the decline of the family, and the teaching of evolution in American schools. Without a doubt, whatever issue is causing the moral decline in America, it is fueled by the mass media which includes television, movies, the internet, and news.

Friday Part 2