Like other bloggers, I am intrigued by the new Pew Forum Church Study. 

What struck me the most was that “more than 40 percent of respondents told pollsters that they had changed their religious affiliation since childhood.”  This makes a great deal of sense to me. 

Many people I know who grew up in traditional upbringing end up at a non-traditional church post-college.  I’ve seen evidence of the opposite as well in those that grew up in relaxed, seeker-sensitive congregations looking for something “deeper” in liturgical-type churches. 

To me, this is part of the reactionary way of life.  But I am not convinced that the reaction is always from guilt, anger or frustration.  Sometimes I think it comes out of a need for balance and a reaction against the idea of “organized religion”

The need for balance and the fact that churches have not made that great of a case that this is where you should be to worship God.  The case that is usually made is, “Come and act like us.  Oh and face this direction while singing these songs.  Oh and make this face when you sing, it looks more sincere …”

Though I am a pastor, I am not worried (I’m a man of faith for crying out loud! ;-).  It isn’t the worst thing if some churches shut down.  My hope is that healthier thinking gatherings and congregations will rise up and this will be the next reaction, coming and worshipping in church because we used to not have one. 

In the meantime, you’ll have to tolerate a lot more doomsday and the sky is falling types of sermons/books/conversations.  I’ve heard people say things like, “Well it makes sense.  People can’t stay married to the same person all their lives, they can’t stay in the same church either”.  It’s a little trite since none of us remember making eternal vows to any one local congregation.  No offense but you usually hear these types of sentiments from middle-aged traditional people who are clinging to hold on to whatever is left of that “old time religion”.  Brother, put down the VHS.  Welcome to the world of Blu Ray. 

You can read all you want about the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life here. 

As mentioned in an earlier post, I’ve been catching up on Derek Webb’s podcasts. He talks about the story behind Wedding Dress on Podcast 12.  Check it out here.

 I won’t ruin the story and chances are you have said and felt similar things that he describes, but it’s reasons like this why I appreciate this guy.   

So there I was surfing the net and I stumbled upon a site entitled the “discernment resource”.  How thoughtful, another watchdog site against any Christian idea that is somewhat progressive.  I read about the concerns of Rick Warren and Billy Hybels and of course the Emergent Church.   So I clicked on the first article under the emergent church and could barely get out of the first sentence.  Here it is:    “Unfortunately, todays church is caught in a paradigm shift. That is, the church is moving from a modern church, where teaching fundamental Bible doctrine is the norm, to a post-modern, or transformational church in which loud, watered down, seeker-sensitive services are the order of the day.” Want to check the remainder of the article and see the context?  You should – click here. 

This is what I read, “Unfortunately, the church is changing, because the world is changing and because both of these are made up of people, this unfortunately means that people are changing.  The church is moving from what it Jesus had meant (you know how we did church from 1950-1989 or whatever arbitrary date that is defined as the “good old days”), where milk flowed like honey and the land was plentiful, where we had our doctrine, hermeneutics and translations right.  Now we’re headed to …

Pardon the sarcasm, I didn’t really mean it.  Well … anyway, although I could go on and on about the mistakes, incorrect assumptions and flawed thinking (and please don’t blame it on the Bible), I would like to just talk about that first line, “Unfortunately the world is changing …”  It’s not unfortunate.

The world is changing because people are changing.  The world that writer changed from something else to the one that he enjoys, this is the reality of life.  We cannot stop time, we cannot dwell too much in the past, we ought not to curse the future, but be faithful stewards of it.  It is my belief that the emerging church conversation is part of this stewardship.