Leadership Journal's Out of Ur

The 2012 Religious Congregations and Membership Study was released earlier this month. The data was captured by the 2010 census, and it reveals some dramatic changes in the religious landscape of the United States over the last 10 years. Key findings include:

-The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has 2 million new adherents and new congregations in 295 counties. It is the fastest-growing religious group in the U.S.

-Muslims grew by 1 million adherents and Muslim congregations now exist in 197 more counties than a decade ago. There are now about 2.6 million Muslims in the US.

-Overall, non-Christian religious groups grew by 32 percent over the last ten years.

-Over 80 percent of Americans claim to be Christians, but lest than half (49 percent) are attached to a congregation.

This one comes from New Zealand (a.k.a. Middle Earth). A church wanted to start a conversation about the Christmas story, but it created a controversy with a billboard featuring Joseph and Mary in bed together. It read: "Poor Joseph. God was a hard act to follow." Listen to the vicar's explanation for the billboard. Yeah, it makes no sense to me either. I would have loved to have been in the church meeting where this idea was approved.

Everyone thought he would wait until after the election. After all, same-sex marriage is still a wedge issue in most of the country. With just over half of Americans now supporting gay marriage, and with many religious conservatives already distrustful of the president, most did not think his administration would rock the boat on such a volatile issue.

But yesterday President Obama rocked it anyway, telling ABC News:

"I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don't Ask Don't Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married."

So, what are we to make of this sudden turn of events? Over the last few years President Obama has said that his views on same-sex marriage were "evolving" along with the rest of the country's. But why has he chosen this moment to offer an all-out endorsement? Here are three things to consider:

Recently North Point Community Church's senior pastor Andy Stanley preached a sermon about the theological tension that is needed to live in the Way of the Christian faith. (Listen at North Point's website. The controversial section begins about 24 minutes in.) Well known conservative commentator and president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Al Mohler, took offense to Stanley's non-mention of the sin of homosexuality in the sermon. Stanley illustrated a story of a wife, husband and daughter in his church—where the husband cheated with another man who eventually became his partner—and the journey for each of the participants. The reality of this family's new tension-filled dynamic illustrated for Stanley the tension between grace and truth in the Christian faith.

Stanley spent the majority of the sermon fleshing out his understanding of this tension by highlighting Jesus' changing response to sin through his words and deeds in the Gospel stories. Should sin be forgiven, or should a person be held accountable? Should we act harshly or be kind? Point a finger or ignore? As Stanley stated:

"We're all tempted to want to resolve that tension. But if you resolve it, you give up something important. It's what drove people crazy about Jesus. But he was comfortable with it. He was able to minister through it. And we dare not walk away from it."

It should not be a surprise that Mohler took a hardline stand against Stanley's nuanced message of tension.

On an unseasonably warm Saturday in late March, my 3-year-old son and I took the train from our Chicago neighborhood to a rally downtown for Trayvon Martin, the unarmed African American teenager who was killed in Florida a month earlier. The protest itself was predictable: calls for an investigation into the shooting mixed with intense frustrations. I was, however, surprised by one moment. Standing with my son on my shoulders, straining to hear the one of the speakers, I overheard one woman respond to a reporter’s question. “Why is no one paying attention to this,” she asked. “Where are Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton? Why aren’t they speaking out?”

Two weeks later, in glaring contrast to this woman’s frustrations, Dr. Richard Land, President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, weighed in with his own opinion about Trayvon Martin’s death. “[T]his situation is getting out of hand,” Dr. Land opined on his radio program. “And it’s going to be violent. And when there is violence it’s going to be Jesse Jackson’s fault. It’s going to be Al Sharpton’s fault.” In these few sentences, and the many that followed, Dr. Land carelessly exposed the ways race continues to divide our country--and our churches.

I mean no disrespect to Dr. Land. In recent years I’ve been encouraged by his compassionate and theologically nuanced stance on immigration reform, making majority-culture churches aware of the struggles of immigrant Christians in our midst. His has been a cool, refreshing voice after so much partisan hot air. Yet at the very moment when Dr. Land could have used his influence to unite, he resorted instead to clichés and stereotypes, confirming to many the priority of race over creed.

To promote its Easter services last month, The Rock Community Church in South Carolina sent out postcards with a photograph of a dead rabbit. It read "Bunnies Stay Dead. Jesus Didn't." (Profound theological commentary, I know.)

Residents offended by the mailer called the church to complain and have their names removed from the mailing list. The stunt also made the local news. Kevin Childs, lead pastor of The Rock, said, "Some of it is a calculated risk, are we willing to offend some to get the attention of some other folks."

You succeeded, Rev. Childs.

A new survey by the University of Chicago has ranked the United States as the fifth most religious country. “Beliefs About God Across Time And Countries,” a research project conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago, asked respondents in 30 countries the following:

Please indicate which statement comes closest to expressing what you believe about God:

1. I don't believe in God.
2. I don't know whether there is a God and I don't believe there is any way to find out.
3. I don’t believe in a personal God, but do believe in a Higher Power of some kind.
4. I find myself believing in God some of the time, but not at others.
5. While I have doubts, I feel that I do believe in God.
6. I know that God really exists and I have no doubts about it.
7. Can’t Choose
8. No Answer

Researchers concluded that the Philippines had the strongest belief in God, and Japan the least. The U.S. ranked fifth behind Israel, Poland, Chile, and the Philippines. The most atheistic countries were Germany (East), Czech Republic, France, The Netherlands, and Sweden.
 

Earlier this month evangelical leaders from every sector of the culture gathered in Washington DC for the Q conference. One of the panels focused on the staggering number of abortions among single women within the church. Panelists discussed the problem and how churches could begin to turn the tide. At the close of the discussion the audience was asked to respond to an instant poll: "Do you believe churches should advocate contraception for their single twentysomethings?" 70 percent responded "Yes."

While affirming God's intent that sexual activity be confined to marriage, those attending Q recognized the greater evil presented by abortion. While still affirming the ideal of pre-marital chastity, pragmatism led 7 in 10 leaders at Q to embrace the wisdom of preventing abortions by those who don't reach the sexual standards of Scripture. Many were likely persuaded by the undeniable statistics showing the failure of "abstinence only" sexual eduction to prevent pregnancy and lower abortion rates.

But should the church be swayed by these practical arguments? And can we truly hold up the biblical sexual ethics and simultaneously encourage singles to "sin safely"? Matthew Lee Anderson says we cannot.

His thoughtful article for Christianity Today explores the debate more deeply, and he argues that pushing contraceptives undermines the church's higher calling. He writes:

There may be no easy answers to these problems. And the most convenient—advocating for contraception for sexually active single people in our churches—may temporarily reduce abortions. Yet whatever good consequences it might have do not mitigate the fact that such advocacy will inevitably further engrain into our communities the broken understanding of sex and community that is at the heart of our predicament.

Most evangelicals vote for Republican candidates, and for the last three decades the Republican Party has coveted evangelical votes by emphasizing the GOP's close link to Christian faith and values. But with Mitt Romney now the Republican candidate for President, many are asking whether his Mormon faith will be a stumbling block for evangelicals.

Last week a controversy erupted when Liberty University, the country's largest Christian college, invited Romney to be the commencement speaker. Some students and alumni are upset that the school invited a non-Christian to speak. They accuse Liberty of putting partisan politics ahead of it's commitment to Christ.

The Liberty U. controversy highlights a growing debate about the relationship between Mormonism and Christianity: are Mormons Christians? In these videos two prominent pastors take different perspectives. What are you telling your church members? And should it impact the way we vote?

Joel Osteen: Mormons are Christians

Rick Warren: Mormons deny the Trinity

29-year-old Andrew Bowen became a Christian in high school, but says that he took "a nose dive into fundamentalism. It just ignited a furnace in me." His journey with God since then has been challenging. When his wife experienced a complicated pregnancy that ended tragically, Bowen says he plunged into a "two-year stint of just seething hatred toward God."

Last year he decided it was time to explore what he really believed. He began Project Conversion. With the aid of religious mentors, Bowen practiced 12 different religions each for one month including: Hinduism, Baha'i, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Buddhisim, agnosticism, Mormonism, Islam, Sikhism, Wicca, Jainism, and Catholicism.

His journey is reported by Amanda Green on the Religion News Service blog. It's well worth the time to read. Not only does Bowen's attitude toward religion reflect that of many younger people, but where he lands may surprise you.