Recently, the world watched as the Cathedral of Notre Dame burned in downtown Paris. The images were horrifying. But as I watched the story unfold on the news, I couldn’t help but think it was symbolic of a greater trend. Christianity is burning in Europe. And the United States seems hell-bent on following suit. Unfortunately, one of the biggest threats to Christianity’s future has already started smoldering in our church’s pulpits and pews. It’s called Progressive Christianity. Thoughtful Christians need to recognize and address it or it will burn our churches down.

Checking Out

There is plenty of evidence that the number of religious people in America is declining. For example:

• From 2003 – 2017, the number of young people (age 18-29) who identify as non-religious increased from 19% to 35%. Today that number is nearly 50%.
• The number of U.S. adults who consider themselves to be “deeply spiritual” dropped from 58% in 2005 to 37% in 2015.

And then there are the ‘Nones.’ These are people who claim no religious affiliation whatsoever. They have always been a tiny minority of Americans. As recently as 2008 they comprised only 6% of the population. So it came as a surprise in 2016 when that number suddenly jumped to 21%.

Today, 35% of Americans classify themselves as ‘Nones.’

Youth Exodus

If you think the trend in those numbers is concerning, the statistics are even worse among our youth. Some polls indicate that 70-88% of our kids are walking away from the faith soon after they leave home.

Among Generation ‘Z’ (those born between 1995 and 2015), the number who claim to be atheists is double that of the general population.

Thoughtful Christianity

So yes, Christianity in America is burning. And at least part of the reason is that the practice of being thoughtful about our faith has become passé.

Christianity has always been a thinking person’s religion. But in the last 100 years or so, something changed. Today, the idea that there is an intellectual element to our faith is not just being mocked; it’s going extinct. And it isn’t hard to figure out why.

• 91% of U.S. households own a Bible. But only 20% of adults have actually read the whole thing.
• 67% of conservative Christians say they want their church to provide more teaching about culturally relevant topics. But, at the same time, attendance in Sunday School classes has dropped from 20% in 2005 … to 12% in 2015.

Maybe that doesn’t seem like a big drop to you. But think about it. It’s not just that only one-in-five of those who claim to want more teaching actually take the time to attend a class. The real tragedy is that only 12% of us think that better understanding our faith is worth an extra hour at church each week.

And remember the youth who are walking away? The number one reason they give for doing so is that they are asking questions no one seems able to answer.

No Barrier To Bad Ideas

Given the church’s reluctance to engage its collective mind, is it any wonder bad ideas are flourishing inside the church? That’s what happens when the truth is not your highest priority. Instead of critiquing the culture from a biblical point of view, you begin to critique the Bible from a cultural point of view. The result is a church that suffers from spiritual disorientation.

Being a thoughtful Christian means you have to be on guard for this twisted kind of thinking. In the last letter Paul ever wrote to his protégé, Timothy, he warned him about this very thing:

“Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”  ~ 2 Timothy 4:2-4

 

Today, there is a label for the kind of movement Paul was warning Timothy about. It’s called “Progressive Christianity.” And it’s a fire of bad ideas that has found its way into our pulpits … and therefore into our pews.

The Fire Of “Progressive” Christianity

“Progressive” Christianity is a flammable mixture of social justice, LGBTQ affirmation, universalism, and non-judgmentalism. Here, love is not just one of God’s attributes, it’s the only one. And that’s the problem.

Yes, there is oppression and injustice in the world. And yes, Christians are called to address both. No doubt there are some in the church who would rather condemn people than show them compassion. But there is a huge difference between being judgmental and having the discernment to judge right and wrong.

All of us should be loving. And all of us want to be loved. It’s nice to be popular with the culture. But when being accepted by the culture overrides the passionate pursuit of the truth, you’ve started a fire inside the church.

And it will burn the place down.

Being A Firefighter

Progressive Christianity isn’t the only fire in the church. But there are big, popular voices fueling it. There are also some calm, rational, clear-thinking firefighters who are exposing it for what it is. One of them is my Advanced CrossExamined Instructor Academy colleague, Alisa Childers. This lady knows her stuff about Progressive Christianity. Check out her blog about Five Signs Your Church May Be Heading Toward Progressive Christianity.

When you listen to Alisa talk about how she came to recognize the dangers of Progressive Christianity, it’s easy to see how enticing it can be. But being a thoughtful Christian means being able to see through the smoke.

Don’t let your church become a church that doesn’t stand up for sound doctrine. It’s up to all of us to be clear thinkers who are ready to pull the fire alarm before the flames get out of control.