Thursday, October 3, 2013

Cultural, Congregational, and Convictional Christians

Ed Stetzer offers a helpful perspective on all the recent statistics from polls and surveys regarding the Church in America in this Christianity Today blog post, The State of the Church in America: Hint: It's Not Dying.  He distinguishes between what he calls cultural, congregational, and convictional Christians. Here's an excerpt:
The church is not dying.

Yes, the church in the West—the United States included—is in transition right now. But transitioning is not the same as dying, particularly if you hold the belief that Christianity is represented by people who live for Christ, not check "Christian" on a survey form.

While I believe we need to understand reality inside our ranks, I don't believe the situation is quite as dire as many are making it out to be. Actually, no serious researcher believes Christianity in America is dying. Not one.

Instead, I believe this current cultural shift is bringing clarity that will assist in defining who we are as Christians, and that is a good thing in some ways.

[...]

Facts are our friends, and the facts do point to a cultural change. And, in the midst of that cultural change we do see that America looks more like a mission field. However, what we need is a mobilized—rather than demoralized—mission force.

Bad stats and hyperbole do just that—demoralize God's people.

Today, we need a mobilized mission force in the midst of this mission field. So, it's time to work for the sake of the gospel, and to live for the cause of the gospel, not run around proclaiming the sky is falling.
Click here to read the post in its entirety.