The Barna Group just released a list of six megathemes that characterize the American church in 2010. The list was created by “analyzing insights drawn from more than 5,000 non-proprietary interviews conducted over the past 11 months.”
- The Christian Church is becoming less theologically literate.
- Christians are becoming more ingrown and less outreach-oriented.
- Growing numbers of people are less interested in spiritual principles and more desirous of learning pragmatic solutions for life.
- Among Christians, interest in participating in community action is escalating.
- The postmodern insistence on tolerance is winning over the Christian Church.
- The influence of Christianity on culture and individual lives is largely invisible.
So What?
Reading through the list quickly, the American church in 2010 appears a rather unhealthy group. After considering the list from several angles, I found dividing it into two groups the most helpful way to process its value for thinking about the church in 2011 and beyond:
- Concerns requiring corrective action:
- #1: The Christian Church is becoming less theologically literate. Christians must know the story of the faith in order to participate more fully in it. Churches must emphasize this aspect and offer opportunities to explore it that resonate with their multiple constituencies. Not only should an effort be made to increase theological literacy with regards to parishioners’ knowledge of the Christian faith, but also with religious literacy in general.
- #2: Christians are becoming more ingrown and less outreach-oriented. While most American Christians are born in Christian families, even with relatively high retention rates the faith will see its numbers decline as a percentage of the population as birth rates remain low and while immigration remains high (especially from areas of the world where Christianity is not the dominant faith). Additionally, modern methodology for outreach/church growth/evangelism must die so that postmodern possibilities can emerge.
- #3: Growing numbers of people are less interested in spiritual principles and more desirous of learning pragmatic solutions for life. When churches seek to engage in outreach, they must keep this in mind. Perhaps #3 is a significant key to unlocking a shift in #2.
- Concerns suggesting a shift from modernity to postmodernity:
- #4: Among Christians, interest in participating in community action is escalating. Postmodern pilgrims don’t get excited about talking about theoretical solutions to systemic problems; they embrace opportunities to get involved in making a difference. Social justice is language that is needed in the church and something Jesus prioritized during his earthly ministry.
- #5: The postmodern insistence on tolerance is winning over the Christian Church. This item could have been stated in various ways and seems to suggest one should apply modern standards in potsmodern times. The broader cultural norms of any given period always trump those that were dominant in earlier times. Rather than fighting a battle that Christians could never win (and should never seek to fight), they should learn to live as postmodern people with and express their faith in postmodern ways.
- #6: The influence of Christianity on culture and individual lives is largely invisible. Going forward, I believe the best framework for understanding the role of Christianity on the American culture as “faithful presence within,” which is the point James Davison Hunter argues in his new book: To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, & Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World (2010). [You can read my review of that book here.]