Mega Shift

There is a huge shift in Christianity in general and Christianity in the United States in specific.

I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time in Europe in the 1990’s.  As a wanna-be historian I loved having the opportunity to visit some of the historical sites, particularly the magnificent and numerous cathedrals.  As a Christian however I was heart broken to see that  these great cathedrals that were once filled with people now sit almost empty on Sundays.  Cathedrals in Europe serve primarily as tourist attractions as more people go through them sightseeing than actually attend any worship service.  In fact, today, few Europeans worship any deity and the overwhelming majority of Europeans do not believe in God.

Studies have shown that in Europe less than 7 percent of the population attends church. In major cities like Paris, London, Berlin and Amsterdam less than 1 percent of the population attend church.

Christianity has come to an end in Europe.  Is America a few generations behind? 

Trends in the United States

Here in the United States, it is easy to be deceived into thinking that somehow we aren’t seeing the same shift in beliefs.  However if we examine the critical data, we will find a number of things: 

• Christians are attending services less frequently. At one time the Catholics because of duty were attending mass three out of every four weeks but now report that they attend less than 40% of the time.  Researchers believe that overall only about 1 in 5 Americans or 20% of the general population are in church any given weekend.
  
  
• The Millennial generation, those born between 1980 and 2000, are now coming of age and are largely indifferent to Christianity.   They find spiritual matters to be largely irrelevant or anti-cultural.
   
• The growth of mega Churches continues as these churches provide more services and opportunities however much of the growth has come from previously baptized Christians.  Many current attendees of these churches have not fully committed to Christ as evident in the common conversions among regular attenders in Church classes and services.
   
• Non-denominationalism continues to grow throughout the country and in fact the nondenominational churches are often the few churches that are growing numerically as well.   

Fewer Christians

Despite some positive trends in our non-denominational and mega churches, based on the present trends the United States will have a diminishing number of Christians both in aggregate as well as a percentage of the population.   Many can argue that the decline in influence of Christianity in the United States has preceded the numerical decline.   Over the past 30 years we have seen prayers and Bibles taken out of schools, the Ten Commandments taken out of our public squares and recently the popular and accepted definition of marriage very quickly transformed.

I believe that it is the disunity of the church that has run rampant in America for the past 200 years with arguments and Church splits over race, nationality, worship and the role of women that has led to the present state of the Church.  Recently, rather than trying to embrace healing in the face of declines we have seen wholesale attacks on the entire Charismatic movement, one of the only growing branches of Christianity (Strange Fire Conference October 2013).

True Hope for Unity

Jesus prayed for our unity in John 17.  His prayer was that we not be divided but that we would be as one, "So that the world may believe".  

 “I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one.  I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. (John 17:21-23)

Christian unity is not an option but must be true in the Church. The Apostle Paul understood this well.  He wrote to the Philippians, “Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose," (Phil. 2:2). He wrote also to the Corinthians, “I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. (1 Cor 1:10)”

The problem with disunity is not only that we are disobedient to the Word of God but we become less relevant in the world.    Who can blame the Millennial generation when they see the Church of Jesus Christ as irrelevant as well as weak, divided and split?

Persecution on the Rise 

One of the quickly growing outcomes of these trends is the rise of persecution.   If the powerful and wealthy founder and CEO Brendan Eich can be fired from Mozilla because of a small donation to Proposition 8 that was overwhelming popular in California in 2008 but considered “anti-gay” and “racist” in 2014, then it will not be long before your local pastor is also silenced in some similar fashion.

There is a lot of evidence for the persecution of Christians in the United States.  What was once true for Hollywood where Christian actors, producers and writers were often discriminated against has become true now for many in leadership or in public life that openly support historic and conservative Christian viewpoints. 

We are to be one Church because we have one gospel and one Lord Jesus Christ.    True Christian unity is not about a conformity of our worship or appearance but truly embracing the various cultural practices and non-essential differences as expressions of our diversity. 

Unity is not an option....not if we pay attention to the mega shift in Christianity in the United States.