Tough Times Ahead for Evangelicals and Protestants?
Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 11:51AM 
This will come as no surprise to readers of this blog. Religion is losing ground in America. That's not necessarily a bad thing--especially if its false religion that is on the decline.
Especially hard-hit are mainline Protestants and independent evangelical-type churches. No surprise there. Some points of interest in the survey. The number of those who profess to hold no religion doubled to 15%. People who self-consciously identify themselves as Christians has dropped 11% in a generation. Catholics are moving west (out of the Northeast--that just means Catholics like warmer weather), while Muslims make up only .06% of respondents. The latter is hard to believe, especially since there are so many Muslims in and around Orange County these days. Click here: Most religious groups in USA have lost ground, survey finds - USATODAY.com
Michael Spencer (the iMonk) has offered a very interesting take on the future of evangelicalism. Spencer believes that "the loss of their political clout may impel many Evangelicals to reconsider the wisdom of trying to create a `godly society.' That doesn't mean they'll focus solely on saving souls, but the increasing concern will be how to keep secularism out of church, not stop it altogether. The integrity of the church as a countercultural movement with a message of `empire subversion' will increasingly replace a message of cultural and political entitlement." A very interesting assessment. Emergents don't fare well. Neither do those churches which built their identities on political activism. Click here: The coming evangelical collapse | csmonitor.com
One group of dissenting Anglicans--sick of the rampant theological liberalism and decay coming out of Canterbury--are considering joining Rome. The Traditional Anglican Communion has 400,000 members, is thoroughly Anglo-Catholic in emphasis, so this is no real surprise. But any merger between the TAC and Rome would set back talks between Rome and the rest of the Anglican community. The Anglicanism communion is a real mess these days. Click here: The Associated Press: Traditional Anglicans want to join Catholic Church
Reader Comments (17)
"...Within two generations, evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its occupants. (Between 25 and 35 percent of Americans today are Evangelicals.) In the "Protestant" 20th century, Evangelicals flourished. But they will soon be living in a very secular and religiously antagonistic 21st century.
This collapse will herald the arrival of an anti-Christian chapter of the post-Christian West. Intolerance of Christianity will rise to levels many of us have not believed possible in our lifetimes, and public policy will become hostile toward evangelical Christianity, seeing it as the opponent of the common good.
Millions of Evangelicals will quit. Thousands of ministries will end. Christian media will be reduced, if not eliminated. Many Christian schools will go into rapid decline. I'm convinced the grace and mission of God will reach to the ends of the earth. But the end of evangelicalism as we know it is close..."
It's easy for us to shake our heads and say 'never gonna happen here,' but in some ways persecution has already begun in some subtle ways. For example, the use of ECP's (aka "morning after pills) are considered the same as abortion by most Christians, yet pharmacists have a gun held to their heads to fill prescriptions for the drug whether they believe in its use or not. Similarly, the current administration's sharp swing to the left with respect to stem cell research and pro-choice legislation will certainly have an effect on the medical community, such as action against gynecologists who refuse to perform abortions.
But I predict that the real leverage against evangelical groups will come from legislation that reduces or eliminates their non-profit tax status. This will take the wind out of the largest churches' sails right away, leaving some of the smaller congregations to fend for themselves. We may all wind up meeting in homes (secretly, perhaps) again one day.
The article goes on to ask somewhat rhetorically whether these are good or bad things and then implies that they may not be all bad since some of the evangelical churches need to go by the wayside, anyway. I do not disagree with this. Currently, there are movements among conservative Lutheran and Reformed groups to recover the post-reformation confessions. We all know who is spearheading at least one of these efforts. And this is good, because a remnant will need to carry the truth intact into the future.
I want to write more about this but have to complete some other duties right now- took some notes on the paper and will comment about it later.
How the he he heck does stem cell research, birth control availability and policy shift translate into the persecution of the church? How is yours unlike Dispies using current events to translate Revelation? Some have funny notions of the world, the flesh and the devil.
And "some" evangelical churches need to go by the wayside? I was thinking more like "all." Either evangelicalism is bankrupt and fundamentally wrong-headed or it isn't.
Is being forced to do something that violates one's conscience as a Christian a good thing? I was not referring to a pharmacist dispensing birth control products, but specifically ECP's. If we all agree that life begins at conception then is being a part of the process-chain of handing out a drug that works to abort a recently fertilized egg not a violation of that precept? Or do we echo those in the recent past who simply said, "Wir haben Ordnung."
Likewise, if we agree that stem cells may be taken from aborted fetuses, is a profession that is involved in R&D through the use of these cells not also in violation of the same belief? Is this not a different scenario than someone living as a citizen of a country where abortions are legal, but simply refusing to take part in the process. In the cases listed above one is actually a part of carrying out the procedures, like it or not. Where would we draw the line?
But, yes, I agree about "all" of the evangelicals, but couldn't quite put that way since I can't quite get the original, post-reformation meaning of that word completely out of my mind.
He goes on in the article to predict what will be left when it crumbles. He basically makes 8 points here: 1) Evangelicalism will look more like the pragmatic, therapeutic and Church growth oriented mega-church's who have shifted from a doctrinal emphasis to an emphasis on relevance, motivation and personal success, 2) There will be a large movement of evangelicals to the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox communions, 3) A small band will work hard to rescue the movement from its demise through theological renewal. He does not believe this will result in a 2nd Reformation though, 4) The emerging church will vanish, 5) Fundamentalist evangelical church's will disappear, 6) Charismatic/Pentecostal Church's will become the majority report but he wonders and doubts that this community will be able to withstand heresy, relativism and confusion. He states they must make a priority of biblical authority, responsible leadership and a reemergence of orthodoxy, 7) He is hopeful that missionaries from Africa and Asia will come here, 8) He expects some culture wars from the evangelical right and left to continue.
In conclusion he makes the following remarks: 1) We must change the conversation from the maintenance of traditional church's to developing new and culturally appropriate ones, 2) Pentecostal and Charismatic influence may be a good thing if joined with the calling, training and mentoring of leaders. We need the influence of the movement of the Holy Spirit from Africa and Asia, 3) The landscape of megachurch vacuity will be around for a long time, 4) The Word/Faith movement will unfortunately continue, 5) The integrity of the Church as a counter cultural movement with a message of empire subversion will increasingly replace a message of cultural and political entitlement. Christianity loves a crumbling empire, 6) Expect to see a vital and growing house church movement- it is easier to maintain financially, 7) We need a new evangelicalism that learns from the past and listens more carefully to what God says about being his people in the midst of a powerful, idolotrous culture.
I am not sure where this guy is coming from. He seems to want to mix the best elements of revivalism with reformation theology. After reading some of Scott Clark's books and getting a taste of D.G. Hart I am not sure this is possible. What is wrong with Word and Sacrament Church's if they are functioning like they are supposed to be functioning. Why the necessity for a house church movement unless the government decides it is not going to allow people to attend church's or penalize them somehow for going to Church? And why should we involve ourselves in "empire subversion" if it is not a necessity? I like Luther's attitude when asked what he would do if he knew the Lord was coming back tomorrow- he simply stated "I would plant an apple tree today." In other words he would not do anything differently- he was that confident in Christ's imputed righteousness to him and that he was doing those things necessary to further God's kingdom. That is a good place to be in one's life.
Michael Spencer has some good insights into why the evangelical movement will end and some of his predictions may come about but I am not so sure about some of his conclusions.
I don't think having to make some hard decisions about one's profession means he is being "(even subtly) persecuted." Some might call that, well, sort of whiny. Maybe the onus is actually on those who are contemplating going into certain professions that potentially involve delicate ethical issues to think twice instead of demanding the world make life easier for them?
What's next, religious judges whining "persecution" about having to grant no-fault divorces? It's ironic to me how conservative Christians make a lot of hay about a culture of victims, then turn around and claim "persecution" when life simply gets hard and complicated. I wonder what primitive believers made into human candles for Nero's garden would think.
DSY
Having said that, the fact that there is so little political push back on stem cell research and other such issues is yet more proof as to just how sinful and depraved humanity is, even in "enlightened" cultures such as ours. Praise God that he saves us in spite of our sin and not based on our own "righteousness".
Now on Zrim's stated desire that "all" "evangelical" churches would disappear earlier in this thread, I will simply chalk that up to over the top hyperbole and not take the bait.
Issues, etc. interviewed him yesterday or the day before.
The White Horse Inn has been talking about the breaking apart of "evangelicalism" for several years. Doomsday prophets have been predicting Hitler like persecution of the Church in America for years. There is nothing new here. Except, in 2004 a large crowd of ne'er do wells including Jim Wallis and Rob Bell decided that "evangelicals" tipped the scales in favor of Bush and that henceforth it must be declared far and wide that not all "evangelicals" are conservative. The sizzle to this lame story is that not all "evangelicals" are conservative. BTW, what's an "evangelical" in 2009?