From the Christian Post:
PORTLAND, Ore. - The inability of the church to discuss a topic that has become taboo among many Christians is one of the root causes why millions of Americans are leaving the church and never to return, says one author.
There are "Christians who have experientially lost their faith" but have no one to turn to since church culture shuns the topic, Dave Samford said Thursday.
It's not that these Christians lost their salvation, but that they have lost their faith in the Bible, the church and Christian beliefs, said the author, who was addressing attendants at the annual convention of the Evangelical Press Association in Portland, Ore.
Over 31 million Americans are part of this exodus from the church, Samford said, citing a Barna Group study.
"Any business that is losing 31 million customers is going out of business," he told a room of Christian journalists and editors. "[It] is the greatest crisis among Christians today in the U.S., Canada and some parts of Europe…We must break the silence in our publications.”
We, as Christians, cannot ignore the challenge of faith in the modern world. While we have many, now, who go after a confirmation of faith through such efforts as Intelligent Design, we have very few who are teaching the proper ways of coming to God and explaining Christianity in a light that makes the faith look reasonable and true. We must address, in every church, the challenges of faith. We must open reliable resources for those who are losing their way. And, as my good friend, Paul Zannucci, says, we must stop holding faith up as a counterpoint to reason.
PORTLAND, Ore. - The inability of the church to discuss a topic that has become taboo among many Christians is one of the root causes why millions of Americans are leaving the church and never to return, says one author.
There are "Christians who have experientially lost their faith" but have no one to turn to since church culture shuns the topic, Dave Samford said Thursday.
It's not that these Christians lost their salvation, but that they have lost their faith in the Bible, the church and Christian beliefs, said the author, who was addressing attendants at the annual convention of the Evangelical Press Association in Portland, Ore.
Over 31 million Americans are part of this exodus from the church, Samford said, citing a Barna Group study.
"Any business that is losing 31 million customers is going out of business," he told a room of Christian journalists and editors. "[It] is the greatest crisis among Christians today in the U.S., Canada and some parts of Europe…We must break the silence in our publications.”
We, as Christians, cannot ignore the challenge of faith in the modern world. While we have many, now, who go after a confirmation of faith through such efforts as Intelligent Design, we have very few who are teaching the proper ways of coming to God and explaining Christianity in a light that makes the faith look reasonable and true. We must address, in every church, the challenges of faith. We must open reliable resources for those who are losing their way. And, as my good friend, Paul Zannucci, says, we must stop holding faith up as a counterpoint to reason.
1 comments:
what christians dont like to hear, is perhaps God is guiding people to deconvert. A lot of christians have it in thier head that they are spiritual, but the more christians claim they are spiritual, and do BAD things in the name of Jesus, the more the whole religion and all of its many sects, are frowned upon. Christians have done more bad than good, people forget history, or conveniently revise it to make christians into good people, and people catch on. Its about mob mentality, and people are uncomfortable about people in large groups doing foolish things.
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