I read this nice article on
http://www.foxnews.com/
BILL SHULER: Ten Ways America Can Become “Post-Christian”
By Bill ShulerPastor, Capital Life Church
Newsweek magazine’s sensationalist
cover story, headlined, “The Decline and Fall of Christian America,” was, in my view, the result of an underlying agenda that caused the article to draw the wrong conclusion.
The article did, however, prompt me to consider the fact that Christians must never be complacent about their faith. We must continue to nurture , and, of course, share it. Posted here are some thoughts on how we could lose a standard of faith–how American christianity could possibly decline and fall. Such a decline and fall would start with the individual. Here are some examples of what each of us could do to make America “post-Christian”:
1. Reduce your prayer life to blessing your meals.
2. Embrace a form of religion over Jesus.
3. Win arguments but lose people.
4. Choose which parts of the Bible you want to believe — and discard the rest.
5. Don’t share your faith so as not to offend.
6. Dilute the message to gain a wider audience.
7. Embrace success and forget the poor.
8. Get uncomfortable around the unchurched.
9. Keep the Bible on the shelf.
10. Keep Jesus in stained glass.
Through the generations Jesus’ followers have established schools, hospitals and orphanages. They have reminded the world that man is not an end unto himself.
The call now goes out to a new generation. The Scriptures declare, “You are the salt of the earth…the light of the world…Let your light so shine before men that they will see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven.”
1 comment:
Mr. Shuler has made several excellent points regarding the idea of post-Christianity in America. He has certainly pointed out some problems with complacency in the American church, which is a rot that grows in the very core of urban Christendom. However, I would like to respond to some of his points with an "equal and opposite reaction" of issues where Americans could go the other way:
1. Not praying at meals at all! Some people find praying at meals to be a "rote" activity that hurts one's prayer life. However, it is still an excellent way to obey the Biblical command to "pray without ceasing." Pray deeply throughout the day, yes. But don't forget that meal prayers are an excellent way to schedule.
2. Embracing "Jesus" without really understanding that "religion" (from the Latin "religare", to be gathered together) has spent the last 2000 years learning exactly how to embrace Jesus. Don't turn your back on organized religion for some vague "Jesus loves you" worldview- as is the manner of some.
3. Forgetting how to win arguments, or not bothering to learn. Although logic will never bring anyone into the kingdom of heaven without the Holy Spirit and the gospel, winning arguments shows skeptics that Christianity is not a religion of blind faith, and it is as a matter of fact the worldview that requires the least amount of "fudging." See Josh McDowell's "Evidence that Demands a Verdict."
10. Why you gotta hate on the stained glass?
Pax,
Unferth
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