someone who is trying to live a life of faith using human strength or wisdom, we can be inspired by these words in Galatians 2:
20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain."
The life of discipleship is a surrendered life. We recognize that Jesus died and rose from the dead and that He is alive even at this moment, calling us to follow Him and giving us the power to walk in His ways. He is calling us to more than a life of religious practice or trying to be good on our own. He desires for us to know Him, to seek Him, to allow His life to flow through us. The old self is dead and we have been born again - we have a new nature, and He calls us to live in the power of the newness of life.
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The life of a disciple is a life of distinction, and we can be challenged to live out our faith in a culture that doesn't seem to embrace Christianity as it once did. In Luke chapter 14, we see that even though the crowds were following Him, Jesus issued the call to a more devoted life:
25 Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them,
26 "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
Pew Research has released a massive new study on religious affiliation that has been opening eyes since its release earlier this week. It is called the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, and it included some 35,000 respondents.
The summary on the Pew website highlights what might be considered the "lead story" on the results. While the U.S. is still home to more Christians than any other country in the world and just over 7-out-of-10 Americans identify with some branch of the Christian faith, the survey shows that the percentage of adults 18 and up who identify themselves as Christians has dropped by nearly 8 percent since 2007 - from 78.4% in 2007 to 70.6% now. This drop in the Christian category is primarily among mainline Protestants and Catholics.
The percentage of Americans who are not affiliated with any religion has risen - from 16.1 to 22.8 percent. Those identifying with non-Christian faiths rose from 4.7 to 5.9 over the last 7 years, with the most significant growth among Muslims and Hindus.
There have already been a number of stories related to the survey, and I want to highlight some of the analysis that is out there. Christianity Today offered an extensive article on its website. It makes note of the stability of evangelicals, recognizing that over the last 7 years, about one in 4 adults have identified with that category, losing less than one percent of their share of the population and preserving their status as the nation’s largest religious group. All in all, there are more evangelicals in America today, adding more than 2 million people to their ranks, while so-called mainline churches lost 5 million people.
CT also noted the popularity of the "evangelical" label. It notes that Christians are more likely to consider themselves “born-again” or evangelical. Half of self-identified Christians described themselves this way in 2014, up from 44 percent in 2007. This includes 72 percent of those in historically black Protestant churches, up from 67 percent in 2007.
And Christianity Today pointed out the effect of so-called "religious switching." Pew had found a "remarkable degree of churn" in the US religious landscape. But evangelicals are the “major exception” to the national pattern of Christian decline, and the only major Christian group in the survey that has gained more members than it has lost through religious switching. Over the past seven years, evangelicals lost almost 8.5 percent of adherents and gained almost 10 percent for a net gain of 1.5 percent since 2007.
Regarding diversity, the CT analysis says that today, more than one-third of US adults who identify as born-again or evangelical Protestants, regardless of denomination, are non-white.
Those are just some of the many findings of the survey. What is its significance?
Well for one thing, it does indicate opportunity - to reach out to those identified as not being affiliated with any religion and to demonstrate and communicate the love of Christ and the truth of the gospel.
In a Baptist Press article, Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd said this: "The results of the survey communicate growing evidence that the greatest need in America is a spiritual awakening," adding, "The time is now and the hour is urgent; our churches in this nation must come together in clear agreement, visible union and extraordinary prayer for the next Great Awakening and to reach America and the World for Christ."
Southern Baptists are considered an evangelical denomination in the Pew survey, according to its summary, joined by the Assemblies of God, Churches of Christ, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the Presbyterian Church in America, and other evangelical denominations and many nondenominational congregations.
One of those distinct areas of opportunity is within the so-called Millennial generation. There is a also the reminder that those who have children, teens, even young adults, in their homes and families can be motivated to share their faith principles.
One of the key factors in the decline of Christianity overall and the continued signs of a rise in the non-affiliated is what Pew researcher Dr. Jessica Martinez calls "generational replacement," according to a piece on The Blaze website, which points out that:
There is a polarization that is taking place, and there is the indication of a decline in the middle - there is a greater percentage of "born-again" Christians and more "nones."
Ed Stetzer of LifeWay Research points out in a Christianity Today piece that:
25 Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them,
26 "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
Pew Research has released a massive new study on religious affiliation that has been opening eyes since its release earlier this week. It is called the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, and it included some 35,000 respondents.
The summary on the Pew website highlights what might be considered the "lead story" on the results. While the U.S. is still home to more Christians than any other country in the world and just over 7-out-of-10 Americans identify with some branch of the Christian faith, the survey shows that the percentage of adults 18 and up who identify themselves as Christians has dropped by nearly 8 percent since 2007 - from 78.4% in 2007 to 70.6% now. This drop in the Christian category is primarily among mainline Protestants and Catholics.
The percentage of Americans who are not affiliated with any religion has risen - from 16.1 to 22.8 percent. Those identifying with non-Christian faiths rose from 4.7 to 5.9 over the last 7 years, with the most significant growth among Muslims and Hindus.
There have already been a number of stories related to the survey, and I want to highlight some of the analysis that is out there. Christianity Today offered an extensive article on its website. It makes note of the stability of evangelicals, recognizing that over the last 7 years, about one in 4 adults have identified with that category, losing less than one percent of their share of the population and preserving their status as the nation’s largest religious group. All in all, there are more evangelicals in America today, adding more than 2 million people to their ranks, while so-called mainline churches lost 5 million people.
CT also noted the popularity of the "evangelical" label. It notes that Christians are more likely to consider themselves “born-again” or evangelical. Half of self-identified Christians described themselves this way in 2014, up from 44 percent in 2007. This includes 72 percent of those in historically black Protestant churches, up from 67 percent in 2007.
And Christianity Today pointed out the effect of so-called "religious switching." Pew had found a "remarkable degree of churn" in the US religious landscape. But evangelicals are the “major exception” to the national pattern of Christian decline, and the only major Christian group in the survey that has gained more members than it has lost through religious switching. Over the past seven years, evangelicals lost almost 8.5 percent of adherents and gained almost 10 percent for a net gain of 1.5 percent since 2007.
Regarding diversity, the CT analysis says that today, more than one-third of US adults who identify as born-again or evangelical Protestants, regardless of denomination, are non-white.
Those are just some of the many findings of the survey. What is its significance?
Well for one thing, it does indicate opportunity - to reach out to those identified as not being affiliated with any religion and to demonstrate and communicate the love of Christ and the truth of the gospel.
In a Baptist Press article, Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd said this: "The results of the survey communicate growing evidence that the greatest need in America is a spiritual awakening," adding, "The time is now and the hour is urgent; our churches in this nation must come together in clear agreement, visible union and extraordinary prayer for the next Great Awakening and to reach America and the World for Christ."
Southern Baptists are considered an evangelical denomination in the Pew survey, according to its summary, joined by the Assemblies of God, Churches of Christ, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the Presbyterian Church in America, and other evangelical denominations and many nondenominational congregations.
One of those distinct areas of opportunity is within the so-called Millennial generation. There is a also the reminder that those who have children, teens, even young adults, in their homes and families can be motivated to share their faith principles.
One of the key factors in the decline of Christianity overall and the continued signs of a rise in the non-affiliated is what Pew researcher Dr. Jessica Martinez calls "generational replacement," according to a piece on The Blaze website, which points out that:
Millennials who are between the ages of 18 and 33 are significantly less likely to embrace religious sentiment, with around 35 percent counting themselves as unaffiliated; thus, there’s a demographic replacement underway in which the younger, less faithful are replacing the older, more religious citizenry.Martinez is quoted as saying: “This generation is much more religiously unaffiliated than older generations...As the younger are replacing older, it’s shifting the landscape in this way."
There is a polarization that is taking place, and there is the indication of a decline in the middle - there is a greater percentage of "born-again" Christians and more "nones."
Ed Stetzer of LifeWay Research points out in a Christianity Today piece that:
Christianity isn’t dying and no research says it is; the statistics about Christians in America are simply starting to show a clearer picture of what American Christianity is becoming—less nominal, more defined, and more outside of the mainstream of American culture.
For example, the cultural cost of calling yourself “Christian” is starting to outweigh the cultural benefit, so those who do not identify as a “Christian” according to their convictions are starting to identify as “nones” because it’s more culturally savvy.Perhaps this survey can communicate to us that none of us should be counted in the "nominal" category - the Bible doesn't teach some sort of cultural Christianity that emphasizes blending in; no, Biblical Christianity calls us to stand out, to be different, and perhaps even to face suffering because of our faith. We are not called to go along, but to go into the world and make a difference.
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