The Coming Evangelical Collapse

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0310/p09s01-coop.html

This is an article popped up on Drudge Report. It is from the Christian Science Monitor titled "The Coming Evangelical Collapse." The title intrigued me so I read it. No I don't usually frequent CSM. If you will, allow me my own commentary not necessarily about the article but definitely on the subject.

At the center of Christianity the Son of God, full of power, hangs on a cross, emptying himself of all power so that we may have a relationship with God. The Church (US Evangelical mainly) is coming out of time of unprecedented power. When we look at our southern communities, they are dotted with churches, most of which were built for larger crowds than now attend. They stand as memorials to when society frequented because it was a popular thing to do. I posit that my grandparents generation found hope within the walls of the church that they didn't find elsewhere. At least during their formational years during the Great Depression and World Wars. Their children, however, lived through an explosion of wealth and began utilizing that wealth. Unlike their parents, they didn't understand that wealth would betray them and could leave at any moment. Those children went to church but without the same understanding of their deep need for a foundation built on things unseen.

Now their children's children are becoming adults in a world that hasn't known the same level of need. The current economy looks bad but the Dow would have to hit 25% of its present value to be equal to the low of the Great Depression. We today don't understand that same level of need. Without acknowledging our need for the unseen Good, we can't appropriately put our trust and hope in Him. It is too easy for people to believe in what they can see.

For my grandparents and parents, the church was the social hub of the community. It isn't anymore. People have coffee shops, TV, phones, internet, etc to build their community. Those elements don't ask anything of the people. Well, not in the same way that the man hanging on a cross dying for the sins of mankind begs us to come and die (Thanks Deitrich).

I think Evangelical Churches are going through an identity crisis as the power and social realavance enjoyed over the last 50 years is waning. Those churches that survive will have to have an identity based on the cross of Christ. It won't be as popular, but was it ever supposed to be? I don't agree that this will be the death of the Evangelical movement. God has a way of using whatever He wants, when He wants to institute His kingdom. Because in the end, its not about a movement or social relevance but about God's glory and our taking up our cross daily and following Him. Evangelical voices will move from the societal forefront to the back of the line. Those people who continue to trust in God and fall to their knees for His help will find what the purpose for the movement was.