Nonetheless, I contend that the primary causes for church decline are external. It is not something we are doing wrong. Even if the church were completely free of sex scandals and LGBT oppression, we would still be struggling with this problem - because culture would still be changing in ways that discourage church attendance.
In the previous two posts, I have outlined 12 ways this cultural shift is happening. Here is one final way, one that I believe undergirds them all:
We are no longer a single, unified culture.
Many white Protestant Christians see the 1950’s as a “golden age” for the church. Membership and new church building soared. This dramatic boom was spurred not only by a robust post-War economy, but also by a remarkable uniformity of culture that featured:
1) A common popular culture - Most people watched the same TV shows and listened to the same music.
2) A common media - Most people relied on the same news sources, despite political differences.
3) A common family structure - The emergence of suburbia created a new culture of conformity. Dad works, Mom stays home with 2.5 kids and a dog.
4) A common prosperity - A growing and robust middle class meant that the majority of white Americans could actually achieve the American Dream for the first time.
5) A common enemy - It was US vs. the USSR.
6) A common faith - Christendom culture at its peak. Being a good church member was part of being a good citizen, and vice versa. Culture supported and created space for church participation.
These uniting traits created a seamless whole of what it meant to be an American, and a remarkable period of institution building followed - for church, for government, and for other civic organizations. Most importantly, this unified culture created a powerful sense that individuals were part of something much larger than themselves. They would spend their lives working for the betterment of those larger institutions.
Of course, this unprecedented prosperity and uniformity was a function of the dominant white hetero culture of that period - a culture which was quite oppressive. Minorities faced a much different reality, and this era was marked by the painful struggle for civil rights. But in the minds of many white church folks today, this was indeed a "golden age" - and it fuels both their politics and their anxieties about church decline.
They are alarmed because American culture has changed dramatically since the 1950's:
1) Popular culture has splintered - 3 TV channels have become the endless options available on cable and the Internet. The idea of a Top 10 for music that everyone is listening to is long gone.
2) Media has become partisan - We not longer form opinions based on the same set of stories and facts. We live in completely different news realities.
3) Family structures have become diversified - Mom, Dad, 2.5 kids, and the dog is now the exception. Divorce, gay marriage, co-habitation, and more multi-generational families have altered the landscape of the "typical" household.
4) The middle class is declining - Less and less people are achieving the American Dream as wealth stratifies and young people struggle to find the success their parents enjoyed.
5) The enemy is us - In a new global order, our foreign adversaries are shifting, and we view people in our own country with different political views as our enemies.
6) Faith has diversified - It is now socially acceptable to follow another faith, or to have no faith at all. Religious diversity (instead of uniformity) is seen as a positive.
The astounding political reality we see in the United States these days can be explained by these cultural changes. Many people view that 1950's uniformity as "the way things should be," and are very threatened by these developments which have splintered that reality. So threatened, they will tolerate literally anything in a politician who promises to restore that uniformity.
Declining worship attendance can be explained in the same way. This splintering of American culture - which includes the notion that everyone should go to church on Sunday - is the big reason many people no longer attend. It is that simple, and that complicated.
And here's the hard truth for us church leaders: This genie is out of the bottle, and it's not going back in. We will never return to that "golden age" of church growth. The sooner we accept this, and the sooner we stop trying to figure out what we have done wrong and how we can "fix" things - the sooner we will be on the path to what the Spirit is doing in this new era.
In this blog, I will now leave behind the discussion of why church is declining - and focus on the exciting new things that are bubbling up.
5) A common enemy - It was US vs. the USSR.
6) A common faith - Christendom culture at its peak. Being a good church member was part of being a good citizen, and vice versa. Culture supported and created space for church participation.
These uniting traits created a seamless whole of what it meant to be an American, and a remarkable period of institution building followed - for church, for government, and for other civic organizations. Most importantly, this unified culture created a powerful sense that individuals were part of something much larger than themselves. They would spend their lives working for the betterment of those larger institutions.
Of course, this unprecedented prosperity and uniformity was a function of the dominant white hetero culture of that period - a culture which was quite oppressive. Minorities faced a much different reality, and this era was marked by the painful struggle for civil rights. But in the minds of many white church folks today, this was indeed a "golden age" - and it fuels both their politics and their anxieties about church decline.
They are alarmed because American culture has changed dramatically since the 1950's:
1) Popular culture has splintered - 3 TV channels have become the endless options available on cable and the Internet. The idea of a Top 10 for music that everyone is listening to is long gone.
2) Media has become partisan - We not longer form opinions based on the same set of stories and facts. We live in completely different news realities.
3) Family structures have become diversified - Mom, Dad, 2.5 kids, and the dog is now the exception. Divorce, gay marriage, co-habitation, and more multi-generational families have altered the landscape of the "typical" household.
4) The middle class is declining - Less and less people are achieving the American Dream as wealth stratifies and young people struggle to find the success their parents enjoyed.
5) The enemy is us - In a new global order, our foreign adversaries are shifting, and we view people in our own country with different political views as our enemies.
6) Faith has diversified - It is now socially acceptable to follow another faith, or to have no faith at all. Religious diversity (instead of uniformity) is seen as a positive.
The astounding political reality we see in the United States these days can be explained by these cultural changes. Many people view that 1950's uniformity as "the way things should be," and are very threatened by these developments which have splintered that reality. So threatened, they will tolerate literally anything in a politician who promises to restore that uniformity.
And here's the hard truth for us church leaders: This genie is out of the bottle, and it's not going back in. We will never return to that "golden age" of church growth. The sooner we accept this, and the sooner we stop trying to figure out what we have done wrong and how we can "fix" things - the sooner we will be on the path to what the Spirit is doing in this new era.
In this blog, I will now leave behind the discussion of why church is declining - and focus on the exciting new things that are bubbling up.
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