Christianity Keeps Searching for a Solution to the Decline


When I saw that an article on the decline in people who say they are Christian was written by a leader in Presbyterian Church of America I was interested in reading it. I was a Presbyterian for several decades.  The article very accurately summarized the problem. Young people are leaving the faith they grew up in. Adults leave after their children leave home. Statistically, the current pattern will accelerate so that in time huge parts of the faith will fall off a cliff.

The author was so optimistic about the future I kept reading to figure out why. He finally revealed his solution: hammer the Bible into children before they are 15 years old. Then, they will have the foundation needed to stay in the faith.

What?? That has been done for generations and now it isn't working. 

If you are a general anticipating a battle, part of your job is to figure out what the enemy might do and develop a counter battle plan. If you are a team's coach you study the opposition to find a weakness. That is what leaders in the faith need to do. 

If leaders in the faith think their opposition is "the devil" or "Satan," that is part of the problem. There is no devil or Satan. Leaders need to figure out a real competitor, not one made up in their imaginations. The Presbyterian does not mention Satan or the devil but he doesn't mention any other competitive entity either. 

The faith's biggest enemy is simply access to information. Challenges to the faith are at every young person's figure tips. When the faith says, "This is the truth" and another site says "The faith is not the truth" it's the perfect set up for an argument. Falling numbers tell us the faith is losing this argument more than winning.

The faith could win arguments this way. It would claim, even if not entirely correctly, that the figure Jesus, literal or fictional, loved everyone and forgave them no matter what. Then it would say, "Wouldn't this be a good role model for all of us?" 

This is roughly the what the liberal wing of the church argues today. This is a plausible lane to winning the argument. 

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