Sharing the Gospel in a “Spiritual but not Religious” Age

Pastor Brian Beckstrom, Wartburg College

How to engage?Pastor Lillian Daniels Dr. Diana Butler Bass

Where the Cross Meets the

Dream catcher

Brian McLaren “A New Kind of

Christian” (1992)

Where are We?

0204060

2009 Princeton Research Associates Pollhttp://www.psrai.com/filesave/

0904%20ftop%20w%20methodology.pdf (Accessed 5/8/12)

% of US Population

Defining Terms

Word Association Exercise

What do you think of when you hear the word “Spiritual”?

Word Association: “Spiritual”Source: Diana Butler Bass, “Christianity after Religion”

Word Association Exercise

What do you think of when you hear the word “Religious”?

Word Association: “Religious”Source: Diana Butler Bass, “Christianity after Religion”

Spiritual vs. Religious:What’s the difference?

Spiritual vs. Religious: What’s the Difference?

http://benaiah.mischenko.com/pinacoladahappyhour/archive/i-love-jesus-but-hate-religion/

Spiritual vs. Religious: What’s the Difference?

“They (the public) have essentially substituted the word “religion” for institutional religion and “spirituality” for lively faith.”-Bass, Pg. 71

“this newly defined construct (institutional Religion) is contrasted with the spiritual, which refers to the personal, the affective, the experiential, and the thoughtful.”- Kenneth Pargament “The psychology of Religion and Spirituality. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion Vol. 9, No. 1.

Defining Terms:Spiritual

“Personal (but not necessarily private) beliefs and experiences that provide a sense of meaning and connection to the divine.”

Defining Terms

Religious“Public beliefs and practices expressed communally within an organized religious setting.”

History

A “Christian” Nation? Perception: Americans

have always been peculiarly “religious”.

Reality. 1600’s: only 1/3 belonged

to a Church. Revolutionary War: > 15%

Sources: Robert Fuller “Spiritual but not Religious: Understanding Un-churched America. Roger Finke and Rodney Stark “The Churching of America”.

The Distant American God

Puritanism: An “Authoritarian” God.

Enlightenment rationalism: a “Distant God”. Deism: God the “watch

maker”.

Left Americans craving a more “spiritual” connection to God.

American Concepts of God

The Authoritarian God (31%)

The Benevolent God (23%)

The Critical God (16%) The Distant God (24%)

Source: Paul Froese & Christopher Bader, “America’s Four Gods” (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2010)

Reactions Historical Examples.

Astrology. Divination. Occult. Mesmerism. Swedenborgianism Transcendentalism

The Rise & Fall of Modern Evangelicalism

Fundamentalist/Modernist Split (late 18th/Early 19th Century) Modernists: Biblical

Criticism, Social Gospel.

Fundamentalists retreated from modern life.

The Rise & Fall of Modern Evangelicalism

The re-emergence of Evangelicalism: A more public form of conservative Christianity. (circa 1940-1950)

Golden Age for Evangelicals: 1970’s-1980’s. Moral Majority. Religious Right.

The Rise & Fall of Modern Evangelicalism

Backlash against Evangelicalism.

Numbers declining since 1990’s, particularly with young adults. 1986: 26% Now: 15%

The Rise & Fall of Modern Evangelicalism

Evangelical growth/Mainline decline Birth rates.

Reality: American Christianity is in decline across the theological spectrum.

The Mega Church Anomaly

Nondenominational (Evangelical) Megachurches still growing.

Overall percentage of Christians in US continues to decline.

Where are they coming from?

Where are We?What’s your context?

How long have you been there?What are the biggest changes you’ve noticed?

Where are We?

0204060

2009 Princeton Research Associates Pollhttp://www.psrai.com/filesave/

0904%20ftop%20w%20methodology.pdf (Accessed 5/8/12)

% of US Population

American Religious Trends:1990-2009The Rise of the None’s• The fastest growing

religious affiliation in the US is “None”.• 1990: 8%• 2009: 16%

Source: Newsweek Article, “The End of Christian America” April 3, 2009

American Religious Trends

0102030

The Rise of the None’s (Source: Diana Butler Bass “Christianity

after Religion” )

Percentage of US Population (2011)

A Sign of things to Come

25-30% of young adults are “none’s”.

Only 25% attend worship weekly.

40% never pray.

Source: “2012 Millenial Values Survey”, Public Research Institute http://publicreligion.org/research/2012/04/millennial-values-survey-2012/ Accessed: 5/8/12.

Reaching OutHow do we share the Gospel in a “Spiritual but not Religious” age?

Two America’s?

What’s missing in American Christianity?

Faith has become impersonal & isolating. Personal experience Participation Graciousness

Changing QuestionsSource: Bass, “Christianity after Religion”

Modern question: What do I believe?

Contemporary questions: How do I believe? Why do I believe?

Discipleship & Spiritual Formation.

Reaching Out The Missional

Church Resources:

Craig Van Gelder: “The Ministry of the Missional Church”.

Alan Roxburgh “Introducing the Missional Church”

ARE (Kelly Fryer).

Best Practices Spiritual Practices

Personal: Prayer, Reflection, Study, Meditation.

Communal: Service, Friendship, Worship, Hospitality, Lectio Divina.

Resources: Brian McLaren “Finding our

way again”. Richard Foster: “Celebration

of Discipline.” Diana Butler Bass:

“Christianity for the rest of us”.

Best Practices

Catechumenate.

Resource: Paul Hoffman: “Faith

forming Faith”.

Best Practices Participatory

worship Resources:

Dan Kimball: “Emerging Worship”.

Robert Webber: “Ancient-Future Worship”.

Mark Pierson: “The Art of Curating Worship”.

Conclusion

Primary Sources Robert C. Fuller, “Spiritual but not Religious:

Understanding Un-churched America”. Oxford Press, 2001.

Diana Butler Bass, “Christianity after Religion”. Harper One: 2012.

Robert D. Putnam & David E. Campbell, “American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us”. Simon & Schuster, 2010.

Dwelling in the WordActs 8:26-39