Not So "None"?

By virtue of our having been born again by the Spirit of God, we have been brought into the body of Christ, the Church. We are part of an organic, dynamic body of believers who comprise the primary expression of the presence of God in this world. 1st Timothy chapter 3 states:
14 These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly;
15 but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.

We are conduits of the life of Christ in a world that is full of discouragement and death.  Into the lifelessness and hopelessness of human hearts who are not devoted to God, we can bring the light of Christ, who is the hope of the world.  We are called to participate in the fellowship of a body of believers, so that through our collective cooperation, we can see the love of God flow and testify to His greatness!

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God has a glorious purpose that He desires to fulfill through His people - the Church. In fact, Ephesians 5 describes a "glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle..." Ephesians 2 says:
19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone,
21 in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,
22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

One of the "Daily Headlines" from the Daily Citizen website from Focus on the Family recently highlighted some findings regarding the practice of religion in America, and the results are, well, encouraging - telling us something that I have suspected, actually: the so-called religious "nones" are not necessarily atheists or agnostics.

It points to the Wall Street Journal, which referenced a study by Matt Bradshaw and Rodney Stark that took into consideration multiple studies on religion - the article said:

Data from five recent U.S. population surveys point to the vibrancy, ubiquity and growth of religion in the U.S. Americans are becoming more religious, and religious institutions are thriving. Consistent with some previous studies but contrary to widely held assumptions, many people who report no religious affiliation—and even many self-identified atheists and agnostics—exhibit substantial levels of religious practice and belief.

A piece on the Baylor University Institute for Studies of Religion website, which was co-written by the afore-mentioned researchers and others, stated that, based on five studies since 2012, of the so-called "nones..."

Many attend religious services, pray, meditate, believe in God or a higher power, have religious experiences, and believe in heaven, hell, and miracles. Even though a growing proportion of people in the U.S. appear to be reporting no religious affiliation on surveys, there are many measurement-related, conceptual, and methodological reasons to question the assumption that these people are not religious, and scholars need to look more closely at the actual practices and beliefs of so-called nones. Further, use of phrases like religious none, no religion, and not religious to describe this group of individuals is inappropriate, inaccurate, and misleading since they may simply be institutionally unaffiliated or indeed affiliated but not with any of the list of categories provided. More focused research is needed before we will fully understand who the nones are, and whether religion is actually declining in the U.S., as well as around the world.

The lengthy article at the Baylor site includes this analysis:

...many people are not necessarily leaving religion behind; some are simply voting with their feet as they have done throughout history. Some are changing their proverbial “religious channel” and perhaps cutting their “church cord,” much like there is a declining share of network (and now cable) TV viewers even though individuals are still plugged into something. If a decline in religiosity is indeed occurring, it may not be due to secularization as theorists understand the concept, but may indeed be due to a secularization of the cultural zeitgeist.

And, the article continued: 

While formal institutional religion seems to be less and less the arbiter of cultural mores and norms and of accepted morality (Chaves 1994), this may not necessarily be a function of identifiable disengagement from religious and spiritual participation. Rather, perhaps it is more of an indicator that the societal opinion leaders and cultural elites (at least those who still attend church or synagogue) go to congregations that have cast aside traditional values and modes of worship and have succumbed to the mainstream, mass-approved spirit of the times. This says more about the continuing decline of the mainline religious bodies than of any real evidence that religion more broadly is dying

And, the Wall Street Journal piece relates: "Hundreds of new denominations have quietly appeared, as have thousands of church plants (new congregations) and numerous non-Christian religious imports. These more than make up for losses from mainline Protestant denominations, which are indeed in free fall and have been for decades. But the decline of established institutions is easier to track than the formation and growth of new ones."

It's easy to craft a narrative - obviously, this has been done concerning the rise of the so-called "nones." And, mainstream media outlets are more than willing to play along.  But, it seems that these researchers are pointing out that religious practice is shifting with time, with age, and I would submit that the menu choices on worship are changing, too.  While there are still many churches who are part of denominations, even the nature of those denominations are changing.  Just in May, a new denomination grew out of the United Methodist Church, changing the face of Methodism worldwide. And, non-denominational churches are also part of the equation. 

I am reminded that we have to be open to change as God leads us.  There may be new ministry opportunities, or a change of location, or other factors with which we have to deal.  And, through the changes, if we are seeking His face, we can be confident that He goes with us.  While we shouldn't be chasing the next "shiny object," we certainly should be following His light that shines in our hearts.