June
11, 2006
Cawson St. Church of Christ
Hopewell, Virginia
Mural
Worthey
Post-Christian America
Introduction
Many writers
are now asserting that we are living in a post-Christian period in America. They mean that we have already passed the
height of our spiritual progress as a nation and we have started a marked
decline. On Sunday, January 1, 2006, I
presented a message titled “The Condition of Our World” as we begin the new
year. Evidence abounds that we are,
without doubt, in a post-Christian period.
I want to present some of that evidence in this message. Tonight, Joseph will discuss how we should
respond to this new reality; how we should live in a post-Christian nation.
What
difference does it make? Does it affect
us? Yes, it affects us directly. We cannot avoid dealing with the condition of
our country spiritually. It will affect
us individually, as families and as a church.
Examples.
Israel
often experienced cycles of growth, decline, destruction, and new beginnings
under new leaders. This is the history
of Israel
as found in the Old Testament. Europe was once a center of religious fervor and
activity. Courageous leaders in the
Reformation called the church back to what it should be. Preachers like Charles Surgeon preached to
ten thousand every Sunday morning in his great tabernacle in London.
Now, it is empty on Sunday. In
early America,
thousands gathered outside to hear religious messages about Jesus Christ. The Great Awakening shook the early Republic
to its core. The second Great Awakening,
of which the Cane Ridge Revival in Kentucky
was the center-piece, affected the spread of the Restoration ideals. It was also called the Western Reserve
Revival. Christianity spread like a wild
fire westward. (Cane Ridge Revival:
Summer 1801, 10,000-20,000 were present.)
From Optimism to Despair in 200 Years
One proof
that I offer for living in a post-Christian America
is the contrast between the optimism of the early new Republic of America
to the pessimism and despair that we now face.
Thomas and Alexander Campbell, as leaders of the Restoration Movement,
believed that the spread of Christianity would not only envelop America but
eventually the whole world. There was
hope in the new land—freedoms never experienced before, untold wealth in a
bountiful land, and belief in the Providence of God was strong. God was going to use this nation as he used Israel, they
thought. Alexander Campbell generally
embraced the Post-Millennial view; that is, a 1000-year period of religious
prosperity would sweep the land and Jesus Christ would come at the end of that
period to rule as King over his victorious people. (Campbell
edited a paper titled, “The Millennial Harbinger,” 1830-1870. Harbinger
means a precursor of things to come; that is, the Millennium.) They believed that by religious fervor and
activity they could hasten the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. This was a popular view prior to the Civil
War. Campbell died at the end of the Civil War,
1866. In a few decades the world would
be plunged in WWI and a few decades later into WWII. After the Second World War, the early
optimism faded. Some believed that WWI
was the war to end all wars, but it would not be.
Ungodliness,
greed, bloodshed, and immorality increased as wealth, education, and
civilization increased. As the nation
grew and prospered, religion declined.
The early
political and religious leaders would not believe that today our nation has
fallen to killing the innocent unborn, allowing same sex marriages, not
allowing God’s name to be used in schools, forbidding prayers to God, promoting
evolution and denying creation. It is
self-evident that we live in a post-Christian society.
From America to Other Nations
Other
nations are experiencing a boom in spiritual growth while America declines. (See Evertt W. Huffard, “Biblical Scholarship
and Global Trends,” RQ, 2nd Q, 2006, 65-72.) While Europe and North America complete their
transition into a post-Christian era, Africa and South
America enter a Christian era.
Most of the clergy on the streets in Rome,
Italy are from Africa and South America.
Very few Italian priests are ordained each year, but 5000 priests are
currently in training in Nigeria. In America, priests have fallen into
moral laxity and public shame. Yet the
largest churches in the world are in Korea,
Brazil and Nigeria. Christian groups in North America experience
less than 1% annual growth compared to 2.4% in Africa and 2.6% in Asia. African
Christians are increasing at the rate of 23,000 per day while Europe and North America lose an estimated 6,000 church members per
day. The churches of Christ have more
congregations in Africa now than in the USA. From 1989 to 2000, the number of
congregations doubled from six to twelve thousand, at a time when the missionary
force decreased.
The Battle over the Minds of Our Children
Our public
school system is being systematically rearranged to eliminate parents from the
loop so they will not interfere. The Lexington, MA
school board maintains that it has no legal obligation to notify parents when
children are being exposed to such material as same-sex marriage. (Same-sex marriages were legalized in MA in
January 2006.) A second-grade teacher
was reading a fairytale book to her class recently. It was not Cinderella or Hansel and
Gretel. It was a book titled, King
and King, about two princes who married each other. (Reason & Revelation, June 2006,
“Schools, Easter Eggs, and Homosexuality,” Dave Miller.) The parents could do nothing about it. In fact, it was their parents who voted to
legalize same-sex marriages.
Dr. Brad
Harrub recently wrote about a conversation that he had with a homosexual
activist. The activist said that they
were no longer interested in doing battle in the courtrooms or at the polls
because they would win the next generation through the books that they read in
schools. He said, They will vote the
homosexual agenda into law in the next few years. (R & R, “In The News,” June 2006.)
Loss of Spiritual Fervor
There is a
nationwide loss of interest in things spiritual. Just 30 years ago when Norma and I were in Bible College,
we participated in some campaigns that lasted for two weeks. In years before, extended meetings lasted 4
to 6 weeks. Congregations of several
hundred were established by such extended preaching. Now, Gospel Meetings have been reduced to
only a few days, with less than half the church attending. Many of our churches do not have Gospel
Meetings at all. I do not lament the
changes in how we do things. We are now
doing some things that we could not have done earlier. Some examples are the use of satellite TV and
the World Wide Web (www). What we all
should lament is the lack of interest in hearing and learning the Bible. We are following Europe
in our decline spiritually. They are
fifty to one hundred years ahead of us.
Other
evidence of living in a post-Christian period is the loss of interest in
attending worship assemblies more than once a week. Most churches who meet on Sunday evenings
have about half the morning attendance.
A preacher friend once asked me, What do you all do on Sunday evenings;
just repeat the Sunday morning service?
I never think of it as repeating,
but rather continuing our worship. I have known of some churches that had 75-80%
attendance for Sunday PM and Wednesday PM.
Many now have small groups meeting on Sunday and midweek. The whole church does not even come together
except on Sunday morning.
There is a
loss of interest in men preaching the Gospel.
Our colleges and universities have been declining for several
years. The numbers have stabilized by
counting the number of students who are taking courses by video and
correspondence. Evertt Huffard, Jr., Dean
of Harding Graduate
School, wrote that more
than 600 men are leaving the ministry each year by all the means of
attrition. All of our colleges combined
produce only 300 preachers per year. We
have a net loss of 300 preachers per year.
If the trend continues, in just forty years our churches will not be
able to hire a full-time minister who has had formal Bible training. Flavil Yeakely, Jr. wrote that only 45% of
those in training list preaching as their first choice of work. They listed counseling, youth work, teaching
in universities, etc. as their desired field of work.
Moral relativism
has shaped our culture and even members of the Church. Absolute or objective truth is denied
outright. John Howard of the Rockford
Institute described the end of WWII as “a half century and a whole civilization
ago.” The evidence is overwhelming—morally
America
is post-Christian. Every aspect of our
society and lives proclaim the cultural shift—from television, movies, the
courts, art, music, and entertainment.
The Church has been replaced and dismissed. The worldview of most Americans is now thoroughly
secularized, revolving around self and its concerns.
Conclusions
While
culture is important and what is happening in society is significant, we must
remember that it is never ultimate. The
Christian worldview includes the work of God and His providence. God is a Sovereign King. The Church is called to be a light to those
in darkness. Batsell Barrett Baxter once
said that the church is like an island in the great sea of humanity. The truth is that there is no such thing as
“a Christian nation.” Those who follow
the Christ are Christians.
Those who
reject God will go deeper and deeper into darkness and sin. Paul wrote that “evil men and seducers wax
worse and worse.” (2 Tim. 3:13.) Jesus said, “Wide is the gate and broad is
the way that leads to destruction and many there be that go in thereat. But strait is the gate and narrow is the way
that leads to life and few there be that find it.” (Matt. 7:13-14.)
This message
is not intended to be pessimistic, though it certainly is gloomy compared to
the optimism of those early settlers in the 1700s in America. My purpose has been to sound an alarm of what
is happening to us and around us. For
those who care, we can make a difference in our society. But we must be a part of the light and not a
part of the darkness.
“Wherefore
come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the
unclean thing and I will receive you.
And I will be a Father unto you and you shall be my sons and daughters,
saith the Lord Almighty.” (2 Cor.
6:17-18.)
