Mushy or Costly?
Greetings all,
This headline from a survey on the front page of USA Today, yesterday:
‘72% of Millennials 'more spiritual than religious'
"Most young adults today don't pray, don't worship and don't read the Bible, a major survey by a Christian research firm shows." (USA TODAY, August 28, 2010)
Some excerpts: (all emphasis mine)
• Among the 65% who call themselves Christian, "many are either mushy Christians or Christians in name only. Most are just indifferent. The more precisely you try to measure their Christianity, the fewer you find committed to the faith.
• 65% rarely or never pray with others, and 38% almost never pray by themselves either.
• 65% rarely or never attend worship services.
• 67% don't read the Bible or sacred texts.
• Many are unsure Jesus is the only path to heaven: Half say yes, half no.
You can read the whole article at USA Today.
There are many overflowing super churches in the land but with these kinds of numbers staring us in the face, it would seem there is something wrong with the message or the messenger.
One popular message that seems to prevail today is the message that 'God wants you to be happy and do good things.”
I am currently reading a biography on Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who confronted Adolph Hitler and the Nazi’s before and during World War II. While visiting New York City in the early 1930’s, Bonhoeffer observed:
“That in New York they preach about virtually everything, only one thing is not addressed, or is addressed so rarely that I have as yet been unable to hear it, namely, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the cross, sin and forgiveness, death and life.”
Bonhoeffer took that message back to Germany and on the morning of April 9,1945, , just days before the end of the war, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was led to the gallows and hanged for his role in the plot to overthrow Adolph Hitler.
If I were to choose between being a “mushy Christian” or the one who embraces “the cost of discipleship,” as Bonhoeffer describes it, I know where I stand, and “can do no other.”
Scott Ross
P.S. In coming days the 700 Club will be airing my interview with author Eric Metaxas on his new definitive biography on Dietrich Bonhoeffer.