Amen. I just love them. It helps to pray the Lord's prayer!I strive not to judge the judgers.
Dzheremi, the reason for the political war is because of the faith in the risen Lord Jesus includes obeying Ephesians 5:11: "have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them."From the apostates themselves, it seems that it is the association of Christianity with politics -- particularly right wing politics -- in the United States that has caused many youth to turn away.
See, for instance, this think piece produced several years ago entitled "How to win a culture war and lose a generation". It is the kind of thing that you might expect, but phrased in a way that generated much discussion (509 comments before the comment thread was closed). An excerpt:
So my question for those evangelicals leading the charge in the culture wars is this: Is it worth it?
Is a political “victory” really worth losing millions more young people to cynicism regarding the Church?
Is a political “victory” worth further alienating people who identify as LGBT?
Is a political “victory” worth perpetuating the idea that evangelical Christians are at war with gays and lesbians?
And is a political “victory” worth drowning out that quiet but persistent internal voice that asks—what if we get this wrong?
Too many Christian leaders seem to think the answer to that question is “yes,” and it's costing them.
Because young Christians are ready for peace.
We are ready to lay down our arms.
We are ready to stop waging war and start washing feet.
And if we cannot find that sort of peace within the Church, I fear we will look for it elsewhere.
I don't know because I don't know the particular Barna study cited in the blog post (it's obviously not the more recent one posted in the OP), but I just posted that in reply to the other idea voiced in this thread that it is the tribal nature of Christianity in America that is driving people away from it. It seems like from the answers given at that time (2012), it was/is the perceived anti-LGBT stance of Christianity that has done the most damage with the millennial generation (who I imagine make up a large percentage of many major cities, given the fact that millennials are not really buying homes, so they're probably not living in suburban tract housing like what they may have grown up in; source: am a older millennial; rent an apartment in a major US city not on the list).
Perceived? You mean it should not be? Do you think the NT church was not perceived to be contrary to all fornicationa, among others sins, or simply for "washing feet?"it was/is the perceived anti-LGBT stance of Christianity that has done the most damage with the millennial generation
May the bright light of the monastery of St. Shenouda the Archimandrite and the affiliated churches of the Diocese of NY and New England attract many who are now lost to the degree that they have stopped searching. When I was there several years ago, I met many people of all different backgrounds, from Europe (NL), Africa (well, Copts themselves are from Africa, but the woman in question was Togolese), from the Middle East (Kuwait), etc. It truly felt like a gathering place for all nations to praise our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and I did also notice that the youth who were there (18-25 or so; I am older, but I was there to conduct scientific research, so I interviewed them) were completely committed to their Church and learning its traditions and rites at a time when most young people in the West begin to leave their faith. I did think that seeing the good example of these young men and others like them might at leastremove some of the stigma there might be attached now in the area (they are in Rochester, NY, which is on the list in the OP) to openly proclaiming without shame "I am Christian". All of my friends are atheists or agnostics (except for the ones I met in church, obviously), but they all know I am Christian, and I live in very secular and post-everything California, where every wacky idea tends to not only originate but be blessed with a fervor that would otherwise be associated with religiousity.
It's a brave new world we're living in, folks. Buckle your seatbelts and protect yourselves with the holy cross, because it's not going to get any easier. As the comedy video below puts it, we're going to need a whole lot more outreach if we want to see any change to this general trend.
It shows the known modern tendency that there are many that believe in God but avoid churches, which we know from surveys they see as hypocritical and/or judgemental. Like Gandhi, many like and admire Jesus, but not the 'Christians' they've encountered.
Any style we add is already questionable immediately, right? The word fundamentalism is so broad now a days, with several common usages. By 'fundamentalism' do you actually mean (worldly) conservative political views being preached in a church? Of course that's just as much error as any other kinds of special agendas preached in a church, like the extremes of the prosperity-gospel stuff.Protestant Fundamentalism, Barna style, holds no interest for me. It is not a solution to the decline of Christianity in the western world.
Any style we add is already questionable immediately, right? The word fundamentalism is so broad now a days, with several common usages. By 'fundamentalism' do you actually mean (worldly) conservative political views being preached in a church? Of course that's just as much error as any other kinds of special agendas preached in a church, like the extremes of the prosperity-gospel stuff.
Well, don't want to take this too far... Again, my point was that with "Do not believe in God" being very low, and then a reason such as Bible accuracy, it does not address specific reasons other than a few generalities. In my interactions the reasons often fall into the realm of politics, mega-church pastors (relative to monies), anti-science, anti-intellectual, social exclusivity, a few question the Bible (the old though refuted myriad translation argument), etc. as there are, whether well thought out or not, specific reasons for rejecting Christianity/religion. Is God simply a default position, and if you believe in God why no involvement with church?
Younger people no longer care about the reasons people used to be involved in churches, which often was about social respectability/conformity more than truth (1950's religion, for instance, valued belonging a great deal).
I stopped going to church recently and my dad of all people gave me some grief over it, despite the fact he himself isn't a churchgoer. But he's a political conservative and values traditional norms. And that right there gives some insights into what is going on, in a microcosm. Younger people see the hypocrisy, unquestioning reverence for presumed authority, and hollow social traditionalism in churches, and it isn't appealing to them. Now days you can find spirituality anywhere, and often times its more helpful and useful in understanding and navigating ones life, than adhering fearfully to an ancient religious tradition that refuses to change to engage with the modern world.
I'm not sure if Jesus were walking around today, if he'ld bother going to a church, to be honest. In many ways the message of most churches has little to do with what we can know with some certainty of the historical Jesus.
He said "wherever 2 or 3 are gathered in my name".
I'm sure you can find a church though that isn't preaching various political ideologies, but instead really is teaching the "love one another" and "forgive" and all the messages of Christ.
I've not attended United Church of Christ, but the local one makes a very good impression visiting even the building alone, because of all the messages straight from Christ on the walls about love. We're lucky in that while our own ELCA church is somewhat like as you just described, that's been moderated a lot by events of the last few years, and we've broken down a lot of that banality/not-love stuff it feels like. Every visitor says we are so friendly. It must be so.I have thought about visiting the local United Church of Christ or perhaps the local Metropolitan Community Church.
My Lutheran congregation isn't all that overtly political but I just realized I am a free-spirited person and the implied social traditionalism is a crushing message if you don't fit the mold. To put it bluntly, older Lutherans seemingly believe in justification by banality. And I'm ironically starting to become more sympathetic to the Epistle of James, "Can such faith save you?"
I've not attended United Church of Christ, but the local one makes a very good impression visiting even the building alone, because of all the messages straight from Christ on the walls about love. We're lucky in that while our own ELCA church is somewhat like as you just described, that's been moderated a lot by events of the last few years, and we've broken down a lot of that banality/not-love stuff it feels like. Every visitor says we are so friendly. It must be so.
So now I'm rethinking if I even need church, if it comes with so much complicated stuff and just sucks the life out of me. After all, I'm giving up 4 hours of my life every Sunday for... what exactly?
So it's caused me pause.
I'm not sure if Jesus were walking around today, if he'ld bother going to a church, to be honest. In many ways the message of most churches has little to do with what we can know with some certainty of the historical Jesus.
Is that area 'New England' the way it is around Boston? We lived 2 years in Framingham, near Boston, and experienced a pronounced chill once I remember when visiting a very small fish restaurant near the coast north of Boston, where the reception was being ignored. Of course, they may have had a few too many tourists I could imagine, but at that moment it felt like a 'why-are-you-here?/go away' to me. Maybe if I went there many times that would be different.I wholeheartedly agree with Albany and Rochester, NY rising toward the top of the list. I have been in unreached places, but this stretch of NY from Lake Champlain on down south I would not constitute as unreached--but hard to reach. There's just this wall; this back-turning. Those churches there are struggling, and not just with numbers. Just warmth. A lot of congregation members who want a sense of God being real, but they're just not getting a whole lot of it.
In the past year I've had overeating problems and weight gain. I did some reading on biofeedback and how it can help you become more mindful, help with depression, and so on. So I bought a HeartMath machine used on eBay and after using that for a few days, it really caused me to step back and look in my situation and I am questioning my religious commitments. I started doing yoga and meditating every day, going to the gym every other day, and I find I have the willpower to make positive changes in my life. So now I'm rethinking if I even need church, if it comes with so much complicated stuff and just sucks the life out of me. After all, I'm giving up 4 hours of my life every Sunday for... what exactly?
So it's caused me pause.
Is that area 'New England' the way it is around Boston? We lived 2 years in Framingham, near Boston, and experienced a pronounced chill once I remember when visiting a very small fish restaurant near the coast north of Boston, where the reception was being ignored. Of course, they may have had a few too many tourists I could imagine, but at that moment it felt like a 'why-are-you-here?/go away' to me. Maybe if I went there many times that would be different.
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