Gravitational pull

Barna, head of the Barna Group research agency, notes six themes emerge from more than 5,000 interviews with American Christians in the past year. His analysis "provides a time-lapse portrayal of how the religious environment in the U.S. is morphing into something new," according to a report released by the organization.

You can read the full story here. But here's an extremely condensed version of the findings:

1. The Christian Church is becoming less theologically literate. Don't believe Barna? Volunteer to work in your church's ministry to teens or young adults. I've been fortunate to teach a Sunday school class of bright, inquisitive young couples, and we've been working on thinking theologically for several years now. But far too many of their counterparts (a) don't know the Bible and consequently (b) are subject to gibberish interpretations of basic theological concepts. 

But come to think of it, many older folks aren't much better off. Don't believe it? Read some of the scare-yourself-silly emails many senior adults—lifelong menbers of Baptist churches—share with each other. If they could and would think theologically, they'd hit the "send" button many fewer times. The primary culprit is lazy, lackadaisical Bible study. 

Interestingly, many of the churches that are doing the best job of reaching people for Christ focus on serious, in-depth Bible teaching and preaching.

2. Christians are becoming more ingrown and less outreach-oriented. "Christians are becoming more spiritually isolated from non-Christians than was true a decade ago," the Barna report notes. Small wonder. This is, at least in part, attributable to many Christians' fear of culture and non-Christians. We've done a great job building Christian ghettos. In some communities, you can go from cradle to grave and never deal substantively with non-Christians. 

3. Growing numbers of people are less interested in spiritual principles and more desirous of learning pragmatic solutions for life. This trend reflects Christians' love for success. Laypeople want to know how Christianity can make their lives better in the here and now. Pastors who want to preach to lots of laypeople have figured out how to give ’em what they want. Many of the most famous pastors in the country built pious reputations and vast media ministries on sermons that had more to do with calming psyches than setting souls on fire.

4. Among Christians, interest in participating in community action is escalating. This is the single positive trend among Barna's findings. Inspired by young people who want to engage in hands-on service, many churches and Christians have flocked to community ministry. As Barna notes, they'll burn out if they don't serve out of love for Christ and the people Christ loved, rather than a simple moral commitment to do good.

5. The postmodern insistence on tolerance is winning over the Christian church. This trend is the paradoxical corollary to #2. On the one hand, Christians are increasingly isolated from "different" people. On the other hand, we're content to leave them alone. This trend also reflects theological illiteracy, because people who don't know how to articulate theological belief (if, indeed, they believe anything) place a premium on getting along. And in this age of cultural aggression, far too many Christians don't realize they simultaneously can disagree with others, speak the truth of our faith, and remain agreeable.

6. The influence of Christianity on culture and individual lives is largely invisible. This is true of the right and the left. Strident Christians on both ends of the spectrum typically sound more like political activists than proclaimers of the gospel. And the broad, selfish, consumerist Christian middle looks and acts a lot like the broad, selfish, consumerist middle class from which they sprung.

Well, Barna said all these things much more politely than I have. But his findings are food for thought. They should cause all of us to question how we must shape our lives to more clearly reflect the mind of Christ.