In this brief (and alarming) article, the George Barna group organizes the hard data and reviews six "mega-themes" of what's happening in the modern church.And it ain't pretty.
1. The Christian Church is becoming less theologically literate.
2. Christians are becoming more ingrown and less outreach-oriented.
3. Growing numbers of people are less interested in spiritual principles and more desirous of learning pragmatic solutions for life.
4. Among Christians, interest in participating in community action is escalating.
5. The postmodern insistence on tolerance is winning over the Christian Church.
6. The influence of Christianity on culture and individual lives is largely invisible.
There is only a paragraph or two describing each of these "mega-themes," but they provide important insight into what must be done to correct these serious weaknesses. Indeed, I'm printing the article and distributing it to friends so that we can pray about, discuss and develop a local response.
(Thanks to Jack Niewold for the tip about the article.)
