I Have A Feeling We're Not In Kansas Anymore

I know I'm a complete James Emery White fanboy - constantly recommending his blog posts & books - but there's a reason: he's really, really good. And when I say "good", I mean insightful, relevant & unafraid.

In last week's post on his Church & Culture blog, he strongly suggested that "we have moved from an Acts 2 cultural context to an Acts 17 cultural context." Which is, of course, right on. (For those not so familiar with the book of Acts, Acts 2 is Peter preaching to the Jewish audience in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. Acts 17 is Paul discussing theology & philosophy with the Greeks on Mars Hill in Athens.)

But the genius of the post is that he doesn't stop there:

[Barna] reports that four out of five self-identified Christian adults (81%) say they have made a personal commitment to Christ that is important in their life.

So far, so good.

Yet less than one out of those very same five (18%) claim to be invested in spiritual development. About the same number (22%) say they are actually dependent upon God.

Let’s state the obvious:

America is becoming increasingly secular and losing whatever Christian moorings it once had.

We are standing on Mars Hill, not Jerusalem, and need to wake up to our true cultural context.

But let’s not forget the rest of the story.

If those who claim to follow Christ do not actually follow Him, then we will have nothing to offer the world it does not already have.

Read the whole thing.