Evangelicalism on the outs, says author
Jim Brown - OneNewsNow - 3/12/2009 7:20:00 AM
Christian blogger Michael Spencer says evangelicalism as it is known in the West is "bloated and hyper-inflated" and will soon collapse because of its emphasis on the culture war and affiliation with the Republican Party. According to Spencer, many people who are identifying themselves as evangelicals are not at all sold on the evangelical version of personal discipleship and commitment to Jesus Christ.
He expects about half of evangelical churches will die off in the next 25 to 30 years due to generational reasons or because their members become more attracted to a secular version of life.
"One thing I want to try to say loud and clear is if you are concerned about evangelicalism's future, then get out there and support church planting because new congregations are doing much better than those congregations that are facing generational horizons or are in real danger of simply ceasing to exist," he contends. "Church planting, I think, house churches -- I think we're going to enter an era with a lot of diverse forms of the church. Denominationalism and the traditional church on the corner is going to be, I think, the minority report."
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In a recent column for The Christian Science Monitor, Spencer wrote, "We Evangelicals have failed to pass on to our young people an orthodox form of faith that can take root and survive the secular onslaught. Ironically, the billions of dollars we've spent on youth ministers, Christian music, publishing, and media has produced a culture of young Christians who know next to nothing about their own faith except how they feel about it."
Michael Spencer writes at InternetMonk.com.
