THE COLORS OF REVOLUTION

Greetings from Indianapolis, where my Epicenter colleague Beth Estock and I are leading a ministry track focusing on social evolution in the United States and the future of the church.  A few years back, Beth introduced me to a comprehensive theory of social evolution called Spiral Dynamics.  Spiral Dynamics is based upon the work of a social scientist named Clare Graves.  It is similar to faith development theory (a la James Fowler in the mid 80s) but it looks beyond the individual's own human development to consider changes in cultural values paradigms over time.  We are finding it a very helpful framework for making sense about what on earth is going on in the United States regarding church participation of late.

The media has seized upon multiple reports that now document a plummeting baseline of participation in organized religion in the USA, after several decades where it seemed we were 'exceptional.'  Canada, Australia and Europe, of course, began this tumble decades ago.  It serves as a helpful reminder that 100 years ago, the Canadians were more faithful church goers than the Americans.  Oh how fast times can change.

Spiral dynamics uses color codes for various stages of cultural evolution.  A few of these include:

RED - dog eat dog world, gang warfare, American football, and Donald Trump the day after the first debate.

BLUE - order, authority, holy Scripture, black and white: think conservative Catholics, Baptists and even Methodists.

ORANGE - individualism, American dream, enlightenment thinking, science - think Robert Schuller/Norman Vincent Peale and preaching as life-coaching.

GREEN - increasingly global awareness, no one way is right, beauty in all religions, sharp frustration with blue versions of church, and a general souring on all things institutional.

YELLOW - moving to a next tier where one can see value in red, blue, orange and green, within context.  Less knee-jerk responses: and their thinking can drive an orange person crazy.

There are more colors, but I will stop there.  From a Spiral Dynamics perspective, American religion has been a dance of blue with orange for the last 300 years.  Because there were not that many people with green sensibilities, the Unitarians never really took root as a dynamic movement, and liberal churches often lost more people than they attracted prior to 1990.  But the Millennials are the greenest group of folks the world has ever seen, along with a fair share of blue and orange as well - and if you live in the hood, even a little bit of red.  But as the nation shifts rapidly toward a green value system, it makes sense that:

* Participation in conventional churches will drop, even among evangelical groups for the first time.

* Acceptance of LGBT people and approval of marriage for all would increase.

* Rising numbers of folks would share concern about saving the planet, even at a cost to personal freedom.

* Social justice can no longer be treated as a side dish with the main entree being personal salvation.

There have been, and will be Christians in each of these color zones.  What color(s) is your church?  Your annual conference?  Your denomination?  Can you see how many of the things we fuss over both in the church and in the political arena relate to these value system differences?  What will it mean for the church to adapt increasingly to people with green sensibilities, while retaining core convictions about Christ and Grace?  

At the end of the year, Beth and I will release a new book.  The book focuses on the future of church in the United States as we look toward mid-century.  The changes will be enormous - some would say catastrophic - but we are quite hopeful, even as we recognize that much of what we currently treasure is going to disappear, as new realities and networks emerge.  What a wondrous and challenging time to be alive and in ministry!

Keep the faith!