The Reverend John M. Buchanan is the editor/publisher of Christian Century, the leading voice of mainline Protestantism and what some call Progressive Protestantism. Buchanan likens the current decline in many Protestant denominations to the equivalent of a rummage sale. “Things that are old and worn out get sold to make room for a new things. Every 500 years there’s a major shift.” He points to the Protestant Reformation of 500 years ago and claims that we’re due for one of those major shifts. “I think we’re in the middle of a rummage sale. We’re trying to figure out what comes next. And I think something new is going to emerge out of this. We don’t know what it is yet.”[1] For a brief overview of Christian Century and Progressive Protestantism, see recently published culturewarrior.net articles: Strange Fire – The American church’s quest for cultural relevance – Part I [2] and Part II [3].
In spite of the decline of Protestant denominations in America and much of Western civilization, Buchanan believes that even though there are large number of those without religious affiliation, he states that people are still spiritual in that “…they believe in God, they pray, they read religious books, and they try to do the right thing with their lives.”[4] But Buchanan’s assumption that man’s seemingly “spiritual” nature is a sign of hope completely misses the fundamental nature of man and his separation from God. It is because man is lost that those spiritual longings rise to the surface in every age and every culture. One hundred eighty years ago, Alexis de Tocqueville described these spiritual longings.
…the imperfect joys of this world will never satisfy his heart. Man alone of all created beings shows a natural disgust for existence and an immense longing to exist; he despises life and fears annihilation. These different feelings constantly drive his soul toward the contemplation of another world and religion it is which directs him there. Religion is thus one particular form of hope as natural to the human heart as hope itself. Men cannot detach themselves from religious beliefs except by some wrong-headed thinking and by a sort of moral violence inflicted upon their true nature; they are drawn back by an irresistible inclination. Unbelief is an accident; faith is the only permanent state of mankind.[5]
Every man is born with an inherent stain of sin that separates him from God. Buchanan’s hope is merely recognition of man’s spiritual condition and his yearning to be reunited with God. Simply stated, religion is man’s search for God, and that search leads many to false religions and gods. Although claiming to represent the one true God, many Protestant denominations have failed to present Him in truth and power to those searchers. This is the reason for the declining number of denominational adherents in the Western world.
What are some of those old and tired things Buchanan believes that need to be thrown out? Although Buchanan says the church hasn’t figured that out yet, it appears that some biblical truths that have directed and sustained the church for two thousand years are among the items to be tossed on the ash heap. On the issue of same-sex marriage, he states that Christian Century “…has gradually come to support a positive position, that it’s a good thing. Let’s get past this and make sure that everyone has the same opportunities to be married.”[6] [emphasis added] Apparently, the Apostle Paul’s condemnation of homosexuality in his letter to the Romans (1:18, 24-27) is one of those things to be consigned to the rummage sale. But, how does one get past a biblical commandment? For God and Paul, eternal truths are never subject to change, even in the midst of contemporary cultural imperatives that change frequently and rapidly.
Buchanan is also greatly concerned with achieving peace among the various religions and agrees with a Catholic theologian who stated that “…there will be no world peace until there is peace among religions, and that will not happen until there is dialogue between religions.”[7] [emphasis added] Apparently, Buchanan believes that dialogue will lead to common ground through discovery of beliefs shared by various religions. As commendable as world peace may be, that is not the mission of the church. Christ came into the world to bear witness to the truth. [John 18:37] Likewise, dialogue to find common ground with false religions was not part of Christ’s commission to His followers. Rather, He commanded them to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…” [Matthew 28:19-20a. RSV]
In his book Storm, Jim Cymbala has written an excellent diagnosis of the condition of the American church and the reasons for its decline. Cymbala states that many leaders of the church use “faith talk” or mental positivism (similar to that of Rev. Buchanan) to avoid the reality of a declining church. Many blame the decline on forces outside the church including failed political solutions and a decaying secular culture that is increasing hostile to the message of Christ and His followers.[8] Certainly these are contributing influences, but the Church has survived far worse in its two thousand-year history. Cymbala cuts to the heart of the failure of the modern church.
Yet, we simultaneously mimic the ways of the world in hopes of packaging our faith into “Christianity Lite”—a spiritual candy we can toss at nonbelievers rather than confronting the hostile reactions that can occur when we proclaim the real gospel of Jesus Christ. Pandering to the culture with prepackaged truth nuggets hasn’t made us more effective; it has made us ineffective. Many devoted Christians see the warning signs and recognize our failed attempts to turn back the tide…They are frustrated with church services that are shallow and powerless…While our culture rapidly deteriorates, they aren’t fooled by the hype in some religious quarters, nor the “Don’t worry, God is sovereign!” attitude of others who have their heads in the sand…Most of all, they know it’s impossible for any nation to change unless we Christians and our churches become the spiritual light and salt of which Jesus spoke.[9]
The church must discard its application of spiritual band-aids to a hurting and lost world and recognize the dimensions of the battle. “For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.” [Ephesians 6:12. RSV]
The solutions for reversing the decline of the American church are not new and have served the church well for two thousand years. They brought spiritual renewal to America three times since the arrival of the first Americans on the eastern shore. Renewal begins with desperate, concerted prayer in which we humble ourselves, repent, and call upon God to heal our land and restore our Godly legacy. Preachers must preach the power-packed, unchanged, unadulterated Word of God centered on Jesus Christ, or as Cymbal puts it, “the real gospel of Jesus Christ.” We must seek the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit within our church services. We must die to self as we become the salt and light so needed by a lost and dying world. Lastly, we must love our brothers and sisters in Christ as well as a lost world, be they Muslim, homosexual, atheist, and every other human who in their heart of hearts is seeking to know the one true God. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” [John 3:16. RSV]
Larry G. Johnson
Sources:
[1] Bill Sherman, “Christian church seeing ‘major shift’,” Tulsa World, January 24, 2015, A-9.
[2] Larry G. Johnson, “Strange Fire – The American church’s quest for cultural relevance – Part I,” culturewarrior.net, December 12, 2014. https://www.culturewarrior.net/2014/12/12/strange-fire-the-churchs-quest-for-cultural-relevance-part-i/
[3] Larry G. Johnson, “Strange Fire – The American church’s quest for cultural relevance – Part II,” culturewarrior.net, December 26, 2014. https://www.culturewarrior.net/2014/12/26/strange-fire-the-churchs-quest-for-cultural-relevance-part-ii/
[4] Sherman, A-9.
[5] Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Trans. Gerald E. Bevan, (New York: Penguin Books, 2003), pp. 346-347.
[6] Sherman, A-9.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Jim Cymbala with Jennifer Schuchmann, Storm – Hearing Jesus for The Times We Live In, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2014), pp. 14-15.
[9] Ibid., p. 15
