The number of people checking the “Christian” box is declining in America at rates that have never been seen before.
In the essential book, The Great Dechurching (which I named one of my Top Ten Books of 2023), the authors tell us we are in the middle of “the largest and fastest religious shift in the history of our country.”
They provide plenty of statistical proof that “more people have left the church in the last twenty-five years than all the new people who became Christians from the First Great Awakening, Second Great Awakening, and Billy Graham crusades combined.”
This has caused all manner of questions and concerns, but I want to take a moment to look at the other side. The “every cloud has a silver lining” side.
The Silver Lining To A Dark Cloud
There are challenges to living in a post-Christian society.
I won’t try to convince you it’s better. It’s not.
But the news isn’t all bad.
In a culture where people don’t feel obligated to call themselves Christian there are a few pearls to be found among the rubble. Here are five of them:
1. People Are Less Likely To Have A Hypocritical Faith
Cultural Christians tend to mimic the behaviors of the Christians around them. They attend church out of habit or obligation instead of true conviction. This can innoculate them into believing they’re following Jesus when they may just be following church-going cultural norms.
In my experience, attending church when your faith is in the minority tends to make you more secure and knowledgable about what you believe than when you are in the majority.
To put it another way, it’s harder to be a hypocrite when saying “I’m a Christian” carries a stigma.
2. Being A Christian Is A Clear Choice
According to Isaac Newton’s first law of motion, an object will stay in motion until it’s acted on by an outside force.
For generations in Bible Belt regions, the “motion” was going to church on Sunday. A variety of recent factors have slowed or stopped that motion, including the internet, the pandemic lockdowns, Sunday sports, entertainment options, and more.
Attending church is less automatic than it used to be. Now, you have to choose to go. When people go to church from a conscious choice rather than by subconscious habit, they’re more likely to be serious about their faith.
3. It Helps Us Major On The Majors
Christians who live in a mostly non- or post-Christian society are usually too focused on discipleship, uplifting the poor, mutual support, and being a light in a dark place to obsess over insider battles with fellow believers.
4. It Can Reduce Petty Inside-the-Church Arguments
Insider brawls over minor issues tend to happen more among long-term cultural Christians in a predominantly Christian culture than in a non- or post-christian society.
You can see this truth all over the New Testament. Inside-the-church squabbles happened less among the persecuted churches (like Philippi, Thessalonica, and Philadelphia) and more among the wealthy insider-focused churches (like Corinth, Ephesus, and Laodicea).
The church is never more argumentative than when we are living comfortably within a majority-christian context and have developed structures that need to be maintained—and paid for.
5. The Opportunities For Christian Witness Are More Hopeful
When we assume that the people around us have a basic understanding of biblical principles and behavior, we tend to use arguments and language that appeal to insiders. Duty and guilt being primary tools.
Insider appeals to duty or guilt don’t work on people who have never been inside the church. We need language and behavior that addresses their sense of loss and loneliness by showing them the hope and connection that Jesus offers.
Our post-Christian culture is a reason for great concern, but never despair. First-century believers faced a far more non-Christian world than the one we live in. And they turned it upside-down.
(Photo by dewet | Flickr)
