A Word from Irene: The State of Christian Faith

I was a young adult when conservatives plotted a course for taking over the Southern Baptist Convention. The church I belonged to needed a new pastor. Concerned that the church not be led into the political fray, I said to a friend in state government, “We need to make sure the right people are on this pastoral search committee.”

Aghast, my friend replied, “You mean the church is as political as state government?”

His reaction changed me and the way I took part in church forever.

According to recent Pew and Gallup polling, 81% of American adults believe in God, down from the more than 90% believers from WWII to 2011. And, 63% call themselves Christian, a rapid decrease from the 78% of 2007. Twenty-nine percent of adults now list their religion as “none,” meaning they consider themselves atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular.” The “nones” have increased 13% since 2007.

Many explanations can be posed about the state of Christianity in the USA, but at least one must be the decades-long involvement of Christians and churches in politics, not as influential citizens of faith, but as a voting bloc to be wooed and rewarded by politicians. Americans in general and Christians in particular know that Christians should be different because God called us to a different primary task.

Andy Stanley in his recent book, Not in It to Win It: Why Choosing Sides Sidelines the Church, says the church is not here to win at the political game, but to follow our Savior who purposely “lost” for a reason, to set us free to love all people. Jesus didn’t call us to agree on everything. He called us to love others in the same way God has loved us. It’s always time to ask ourselves: what does love require of me?

When we love like Jesus loved, the “nones” may want to become Christian. 

Rev. Irene Vinyard Bennett