Our ability to successfully integrate our faith and work is not only predicated upon theology but also properly understanding the culture in which we live. Most of us sense that “times are a changin”, but sometimes our hopeful optimism prevents us from embracing reality. We further discount our intuition because we do not have true facts, and we tell ourselves that we do not want to rush to judgement. In the midst of these mental gymnastics, we forget that the good Lord gave us a mind and He expects that we use it along with all the buckets of grace that come in the form of wisdom. These are the faculties that we should engage when reading Mike Metzger’s article, Missing a Milestone? Sadly, he provides us with facts we may not want to face about where we are culturally. This article may be short, but it makes the issue he identifies is no less poignant.
Missing a Milestone??
Mike Metzger
The year 2019 will likely mark an important milestone for evangelicals. Lane Greene of The Economist suspects most evangelicals will miss it.
I’m generally not one for new years resolutions. If, however, any of my evangelical friends were to ask what I’d recommend, I’d suggest three. 1) Recognize an important milestone likely to happen in 2019. 2) Recognize what this milestone means. 3) Recognize that doing more of what we’re already doing is not a solution.
I enjoy reading The Economist for several reasons. For starters, the articles are succinct. The writers use an economy of words. This includes Lane Greene, Espresso editor for the magazine. In the year-end edition (“The Year In 2019”), he wrote a short piece, “Losing faith.” In it, Greene forecasts a milestone for evangelicals in 2019.
Next year, religious “nones” are likely for the first time ever to outnumber evangelicals. Nones already outnumber Catholics and mainline Protestants. But in 2019, the line depicting the rise of nones will cross the line depicting the decline of evangelicals. “There will soon be more Nones than any single group of Christians,” Greene writes.
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What We Are Thinking About
EVENT: 17 FEB Heart of the City Lecture Series
With Eric Metaxas
ARTICLE: A Lot to Lose: The Privilege of Tidying Up
BOOK: The Grace of Repentance (by Sinclair Ferguson)
Thanks to Deniz Altindas for the photo from Unsplash
