The Empire 418

'The coming evangelical collapse
An anti-Christian chapter in Western history is about to begin. But out of
the ruins, a new vitality and integrity will rise.
By Michael Spencer

Oneida, Ky. - We are on the verge ˆ within 10 years ˆ of a major
collapse of evangelical Christianity. This breakdown will follow the
deterioration of the mainline Protestant world and it will fundamentally
alter the religious and cultural environment in the West.

Within two generations, evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its
occupants. (Between 25 and 35 percent of Americans today are Evangelicals.)
In the "Protestant" 20th century, Evangelicals flourished. But they will
soon be living in a very secular and religiously antagonistic 21st century.

This collapse will herald the arrival of an anti-Christian chapter of the
post-Christian West. Intolerance of Christianity will rise to levels many
of us have not believed possible in our lifetimes, and public policy will
become hostile toward evangelical Christianity, seeing it as the opponent
of the common good.

Millions of Evangelicals will quit. Thousands of ministries will end.
Christian media will be reduced, if not eliminated. Many Christian schools
will go into rapid decline. I'm convinced the grace and mission of God will
reach to the ends of the earth. But the end of evangelicalism as we know it
is close.

Why is this going to happen?

1. Evangelicals have identified their movement with the culture war and
with political conservatism. This will prove to be a very costly mistake.
Evangelicals will increasingly be seen as a threat to cultural progress.
Public leaders will consider us bad for America, bad for education, bad for
children, and bad for society.

The evangelical investment in moral, social, and political issues has
depleted our resources and exposed our weaknesses. Being against gay
marriage and being rhetorically pro-life will not make up for the fact that
massive majorities of Evangelicals can't articulate the Gospel with any
coherence. We fell for the trap of believing in a cause more than a faith.

2. We Evangelicals have failed to pass on to our young people an orthodox
form of faith that can take root and survive the secular onslaught.
Ironically, the billions of dollars we've spent on youth ministers,
Christian music, publishing, and media has produced a culture of young
Christians who know next to nothing about their own faith except how they
feel about it. Our young people have deep beliefs about the culture war,
but do not know why they should obey scripture, the essentials of theology,
or the experience of spiritual discipline and community. Coming generations
of Christians are going to be monumentally ignorant and unprepared for
culture-wide pressures.'
Lees verder: http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0310/p09s01-coop.html