Christianity Today

Are we witnessing the decline in relevance of Christianity today? A recent Pew survey showed that the percent of affiliated Christians in the United States declined from 78.4 % to 70.6 % between 2007 and 2014. Does this mean the United States is becoming a secular country? Perhaps this decline is directly correlated with various church efforts to become more "inclusive."

A magazine addressed to a Reverend So-and-So was delivered to my office last week. Called Christianity Today, the magazine cover is protected by a jacket with the following blurb: "People are tired and frustrated with the constant bickering about issues in our culture. Christianity Today provides a platform that is ... reconciliatory. There can still be disagreement, but it's disagreement with love and civility." Signed, Samuel Rodriguez, President NHCLC.

NHCLC stands for National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. One of NHCLC's vision statements declares their desire to "edify a multi-ethnic, trans generational firewall against moral relativism, spiritual apathy, cultural decadence." That is all well and good, but how does your moral relativism stack up against your belief that "the conservative movement stands at a crossroads on immigration. It’s time to act now."

Christianity Today is cover-to-cover moral panic about racism, sexism, and homophobia. An article on racism talks about unconscious racial bias, amidst police "shooting unarmed [black] teenagers." Studies show that "newly released white felons experience better job hunting success than young black men with no criminal record."

Another article about race, entitled, Dear Pastor, Can I Come To Your Church? consisted of an experiment designed to prove that evangelicals are racists. The authors sent hundreds of emails to churches all over the country, pretending to be a Christian family moving to a new city. The letters were signed with white names (Taylor, Murphy), black names (Jamaal Washington, Tyrone Jefferson), hispanic names (Garcia, Hernandez) and asian names (Li, Kim).

The experimenters found that there were racial disparities in number of responses. Whites received the most responses, followed by blacks, then hispanics, then asians. Conclusion? "Mainline Protestands' pursuit of racial justice at the societal level appears not to trickle down to interpersonal behavior." Science-y! Nobody wants to be called a racist, in fact it could cost you your career. You wouldn't want to go that church, it's racist.

The final insult in the magazine was an article called, Understanding Gender Dysphoria. Subtitle: The leading Christian scholar on transgender issues defines the terms and gives the church a way forward. This article is an attempt to mainstream acceptance of giving teens and pre-teens hormones and sex reassignment surgery. Because they happened to be born male but with a female brain.

If this is the way forward, then empty out the pews. Morality is all relative and nothing is absolute. Civility is fine but it is always preached by those in cultural ascendance. Jesus never talked about civility. He talked about how the tree that bore no fruit should be cast into the fire.

I only got halfway through the issue of Christianity Today, so I'm not sure I will be signing up for three more free issues. I can already guess what the topics will be. Declining Female Attendance: Should Your Parish Sponsor Abortion Doula Apprenticeships? Or maybe, Become An Inclusive Church by Holding Homosexual Weddings.