THE STORY WE CANNOT AFFORD TO MISS

This past month, I had an interesting conversation with one of the United Methodist bishops on the subject of theology and the church, specifically the thriving church - of which there are few within most mainline denominations.  Apparently it is possible from a casual read of this blog to conclude that I don't think theology matters much to the future of the church.  I want to correct that notion.  Theology matters and, just as in the first century, it is rooted in people's encounters with the Living Christ.



There is a story here that none of us should miss. I will sum up that story briefly in the following propositions:

1.  Spiritual intensity, usually framed in terms of a passion for following Jesus the Christ, is virtually universal wherever local churches thrive. Even the places where social justice is emphasized as a key framework for faithful gospel living. (This idea is central in all of my books, most clearly in I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church, Healing Spiritual Amnesia, The Surprise Factor, and Multiply Your Impact.  In Fling Open the Doors, my first book, I do not dwell on the fact but assume it as I tell about a church that led 1300 people to profess faith in Jesus Christ over the course of nine years.)

2.   What Phil Maynard terms 'the shift from membership to discipleship' is the biggest story of what is really happening on the cutting edge of the mainline - not the stuff about LGBTQ (although that is also a significant story).  In our Readiness360 work, we coach most churches to take time to strengthen their foundations by deepening their own spiritual practice prior to attempting significant new ministry initiatives to reach new people.

3.  Furthermore, spiritual intensity is usually accompanied by rather traditional beliefs about God and Jesus. Thriving churches tend to be led by folks with a well-formed theology and Christology.  I can show you spiritual intensity without Jesus, but rarely within a Christian church.  (There is a UU Church in DC that I have cited on the topic of spiritual intensity, but they are not Christian - Christian churches that thrive live into their core theology.)

4.    Even a movement as politically left as Occupy Wall Street (if you talk to the folks who were on the ground) was punctuated by Christian spiritual practice and inspired by the teachings and person of Jesus Christ.  Media mostly missed that story.  There were plenty of atheists involved too, which brings us to another big point:

5.   Many thriving spiritual communities are making plenty of room for atheists and doubters (especially husbands of the faithful) without compromising what they believe.   The first time I heard this described was back in 2006, when the pastor of the non-denom Jacob's Well (Kansas City) described his church to a group of mainline leaders.  Eight years later, this characterizes the most of the new churches that I coach.  They are hospitable to folks who don't buy the theology, and yet they refuse to water down what they believe. 

6.  If there is one major belief that is shifting, it would be a shift toward the idea that salvation is possible for all, even for those who do not know Jesus of the gospels.

The world has gotten smaller and many young Christians know a lot of folks from other religions or other parts of the world.  They will tell you that "Jesus saves those folks too".  They might reinterpret the Jesus saying in John, "No one comes to the Father but by me," as meaning that no one comes to God but by grace, or except by that which Jesus represented.  For good or for ill, this is a significant theological shift underway.

7.     Most church shoppers in the USA come from the rightward side of the ideological-political spectrum.  We tend to polarize into two Americas these days with our own news and our own worldviews.  People on the left, especially under the age of 40 are mostly unchurched and dechurched.  The more middle-class you are, Republican you are, Southern-Midwestern you are, the more likely that you watch Duck Dynasty, the more likely you will want to raise your young children in a church - and probably in a church big enough to offer extraordinary age-level programming.  That church will likely be conservative theologically and conservative socially.  That is just where the big numbers are in the market of people who are looking for a good church.  On the right.  Churches that do not tap into this market will be smaller.

8.     However, young Americans are changing in their social views so rapidly that we will see major change in the evangelical churches, mainline and non-denominational in the next half century.  Even in places like Oklahoma!  Evangelical social views are shifting in America.  By 2064, it will be common to find evangelical churches all over the USA with lesbians teaching Sunday school.   Not universal but common.  There will be other hot issues.  (I don't think the abortion issue is going away nearly so fast.)

9.  All of this - every point made above - is subject to change.  In this era, it is hard to assume much for long.  New movements, new shifts, new alliances are happening constantly.  And as they do, they will significantly challenge some of the above propositions.  But for now, this is what I am seeing across the land.