Friday, July 08, 2016
Another new life
Another 'coming alive' item. An unaccustomedly strong point from a normally lukewarm source. Christianity Today is the USA Today of religion, beige and inoffensive.
An article on the overall condition of Christianity, based on surveys and such, suddenly bangs a sharp point into the reader:
Since 1972... the percentage of convictional Christians in the U.S. population has remained generally stable, if we see regular church attendance as a marker of such conviction. On the other hand, mainline Protestantism has declined, while other areas within evangelicalism have grown slightly to offset that loss. The numbers of people who are committed Christians—those who are practicing a vibrant faith—are not dying off.... However, that does not mean that the Church is not being challenged. It is, and it is being more clearly defined. Research tells us that Convictional Christians are not leaving the faith. Instead, the “squishy middle,” as I like to call it, is being compressed. At least part of this is because Christians now find themselves more and more on the margins in American society — not persecuted, but no longer central. As such, people are beginning to count the cost.Not persecuted? Ask Ruby Ridge and Waco. Ask those bakers and marriage brokers. Not all of them are shot, but lawsuits and jail and disemployment are generally counted as persecution. The sharp point: People who had been calling themselves Christian by tradition or convenience now realize that Christianity means trouble. Only the believers who are willing to accept trouble are sticking with the faith. This is good for the faith, but it means the trouble will multiply as the persecutors feel the need to exterminate more thoroughly. ¶ 9:58 AM
