Has the Church Come to Love Her Traditions More than Her Children?

Has the Church Come to Love Her Traditions More than Her Children?

A storm is coming. An alarm has sounded. The beauty of s storm warning system is that you have time to prepare. You know the location of the storm and scientific approximations of when it will hit your area. Do you hear the alarms? Are you prepared for what is coming and for what is already upon us? Church, we have a problem!

I recently attended a conference in Arlington, Texas that was focused on the discipleship issues of churches and how they reach out to the Mosaics (the term coined to define those in the age group of 18-29 years old.) The conference was titled You Lost Me and it referenced the research done by Barna researcher David Kinnaman that was published in a book by the same name.

There are some clear indications in the research of things the church can do to turn the tide of this mass exodus of young people from our congregations and even the complete rejection of their faith as a whole.  As Kinnaman stated, though, “It’s complicated.”

There were 7 clear reasons why the Mosaics say they are abandoning their churches and their faith. Those reasons include:

·         Church is overprotective

·         Church is repressive on issues of sex

·         Church is anti-science

·         Church seems exclusive and excludes those who are different from them

·         Church allows no room for doubt

·         Church is shallow and superficial

·         Church is rigid

If you are like me, my initial reaction was to justify why some of these issues were important, but the more I stopped and just listened, I think I finally heard what these young adults were saying for the first time.  We often have pat Sunday school answers to these concerns, but this generation of young people is demanding far more than a pat answer.  They want dialogue. Not debate—dialogue. They state that Christianity does not seem to answer these deep questions with thoughtful or challenging ways. A pat answer will drive these young adults farther from the church and their faith.

An argument could be made that the church should never compromise its standard on the basis of culture. American culture should not be shaping the church. This is true. But to deny the reality of the culture we live in and then attempt to make Christianity relevant to the Mosaics is to drive that wedge between this generation and the church even further.

This is Not Your Father’s Babylon

Kinnaman further explained the fallacy of thinking in the boomer generation. It seems the baby boomers are not too concerned about this fall out of young people because historically this has always happened. Their experience has taught them that they will return to the church and their faith when they have children. It is a temporary absence.  Unfortunately, research shows that they are terribly mistaken.

The baby boomers seem to have forgotten the landmark transformation their generation had on the face of the church. They ushered in the Jesus Movement which many decried was a “spirit of Babylon” taking over the church. Churches began to stylistically change to keep and meet the needs of these passionate new believers. Tradition sort of yielded to the newer and contemporary sounds of Keith Green and contemporary Christian music. Some rejected this new cultural trend saying it was a passing fad—but the baby boomers were building the church of a new generation and saw the importance of being relevant to the people and speaking the language of the culture. Some called it compromise; others called it good mission work. Whatever it was, it changed the landscape of the church forever. The boomers made their mark on their world and the church.

But fast-forward to the age of the Mosaics we see now leaving their faith and their churches. What has happened? We are seeing the boomers holding fast to the traditions they created and being unyielding to the reality of culture that our young adults live in. If this generation is not given the same liberty to bring their faith in God to the culture they live in and be able to tackle the issues of the day, the only epitaph of the Mosaics to the Christian church will be, “You lost me.”

As Kinnaman continued to declare, “It’s complicated.”  The “Babylon” the Mosaics live in is not the same “Babylon” the boomers lived in. A plaguing question that must be answered is why did the boomers forget the impact they had to change their world and the church? Why would we not afford the Mosaics the same opportunity for the sake of Christ to be carried to this generation?  Why is it that we think the Mosaics are no big deal and the church won’t have to change to reach them?  Kinnaman further challenged the boomers and said, “We have to be just as vigilant in taking on self-righteousness in the church as we are about unrighteousness in the world.” And he was far from finished. In fact, he was just getting started.

Kinnaman began to discuss the passage of scripture in Matthew 18:6 which states, “…but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” He further went on to explain the context of this passage being about false teachings and heresy.  Then he framed his next question with great conviction. “What if the way we are doing church, the way we are discipling (or not discipling) is just as heretical that this passage would now apply to us?”  Our church’s current approach to Christianity is driving off 59% of the Mosaic generation—that is 59% who grew up and were actively participating in bible-believing churches and now say they will never return to the church. Are we harming an entire generation of young people’s ability to grow in Christ and make it relevant to the current culture? It’s complicated.

In this complex culture the Mosaics find themselves submerged in, Kinnaman suggests that there are 2 kinds of courage that are needed:

1.       Courage of Purity: to be able to live God and their convictions in a complex culture

2.       Proximate Courage: to be close enough to culture to influence it and the courage to stand up to a self-righteous church

How Do We Reverse the 59% Exodus?

The research and interviews with the Mosaics revealed 5 specific courses of action that would keep them connected and active in their churches and faith:

1.       Meaningful Relationships:  research showed that the Mosaics who maintained healthy connections with their church had strong personal relationships they made at church but that were fostered outside the church. Mosaics are highly relational people.

2.       Cultural Discernment: Mosaics do not want to compromise their faith to fit in the culture, but they do want the church to recognize the complexities of the culture they do live in and not dismiss it as irrelevant.

3.       Reverse Mentoring & Life Modeling: The people of Israel needed Esther. And it our modern society it may be for such a time as this that we need the Mosaics to teach us how to make Christianity relevant to this culture. We lose when we don’t include and challenge young people. They expect diversity and relish it. For Mosaics there is a fine line between discipleship and brainwashing. They want to be able to coexist with people in our culture that are different than them and treat others with dignity and respect. They want others to respect their personal faith preferences and beliefs so they are willing to respects other’s right to believe or not to without thinking less of a person.

4.       Vocational Discipleship: 97% of the average congregation is never going to be called to vocational ministry. These people are natural resources of carrying the Gospel into the marketplace. Only 16% of Christians know how the Bible relates to their chosen profession. Help people find the link of their faith and their profession and celebrate how God uniquely called them to the field they are in for a purpose.

5.       Recognize Mosaics can hear the voice of God: There is arrogance in many churches that are stuck in tradition that God gives wisdom to the elders. But there are times, as in the story of Eli and Samuel that God’s voice is no longer discerned by older leadership (for whatever reason) and God is speaking loud and clear to the younger generation. But they are often met with the resistance that what they are hearing from God is pushing against established traditions.

To say the situation at hand is complicated is quite the understatement. But now, more than ever, if we are reach the Mosaic generation (of which only 4% claim to be Bible-believing Christians with a Christian worldview) the church needs to do some serious re-evaluation of what it will take to reach this generation. The question remains valid: What if the way we are currently doing church (that is driving 59% of the Mosaics to abandon their church and their faith) qualifies us to have a millstone placed on our neck and tossed into the sea? Will we bridge that gap between the boomers and the mosaics?  The future of the church and the cause of Christ depend on it. Let the discussions and transformations begin.