22/22 Vision: Part One
All indications say 2022 will be another challenging year for the American church. That means it will be another challenging year for those who lead the church. If we’re going to navigate it in strength, it will require not 20/20 rose-colored glasses, but 22/22 lenses.
What are 22/22 lenses? They are lenses that see deeper and higher, lenses that see what is true. They enable us to see reality in 2022, lenses that do away with the rose-colored view we had of the church in 2020. They are lenses that make us face the reality of 2022 and where we really are as the church of Jesus Christ.
I’m not talking COVID. COVID is essentially over as an individual health issue. What is not over is what COVID has revealed about the spiritual health of the church of Jesus Christ in America. Not what COVID caused in the church, but what it revealed about the church, and that is this: the body of Christ was not healthy before COVID hit, and so, was not healthy during COVID. We did not operate in the strength previous generations demonstrated when they encountered their national “crises,” from AIDs to the Black Plague, from World War II to the War Between the States.
But like the Titanic sailing as a great Colossus on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic, the church is slowly waking up to the “game-changers” in its path. Large numbers of pastors aren’t yet preaching about these challenging game-changers, but spiritually astute writers and teachers are understanding the signs of the times and have begun ringing the warning bell, telling us there is yet time to change our course.
Let me highlight two critical “game-changers,” followed by two words of counsel on the direction the church needs to take in 2022.
GAME-CHANGER #1: REALITY
As I have written before and often, studies indicate the foundations of the church have been weakening for some time and continue to weaken. Our foundations consist of three base materials:
1. Our worldview (the glasses through which we view reality),
2. Our doctrine (our teaching about reality),
3. And our discipleship (how we live in accordance with God’s view and teaching on reality)
Studies by groups like Ligonier Ministries, The Barna Group, Pew Research, and Lifeway Research consistently sound the alarm that all three are growing less and less Christian – less and less in line with those of the Creator-Redeemer.
WORLDVIEW
While 69% of Americans self-identify as Christian, only 6% have a Christian worldview.
“That’s all Americans,” you say. “Surely the number among Christians is much higher.”
But is it?
Among self-identified “born again” Christians, just 9% have a Christian worldview.
For Evangelical Christians, the number is just 21%.
DOCTRINE
On the subjects of Doctrine and Discipleship, among self-identified “born again” Christians:
72% argue that people are basically good;
64% say that all religious faiths are of equal value;
58% believe people can earn their way into Heaven;
57% believe in karma.
Among Evangelicals:
52% argue that people are basically good;
39% say Holy Spirit is not a living being but is merely a symbol of God’s presence;
33% believe in karma;
57% say Jesus is not the only way to eternal life.
The findings of these four research groups point to three eye-opening conclusions about the church when it comes to Worldview, Doctrine, and Discipleship.
1. The statistics on the subjects above are weakening every year;
2. Recent study results yielded the lowest numbers for biblical fealty since studies began;
3. Numbers are healthiest for older Christians, weakest for young adult Christians.
Conclusion: We have a foundational Worldview and Doctrinal problem in the church. And it’s growing worse.
MY HOUSE & GOD’S HOUSE
Recently, we had to have work done under the lanai behind our house. The tech found evidence of water erosion under the concrete, erosion that, in time, would have caused the concrete to collapse and water lines to break. There was no question of whether or not to repair. Whatever the financial cost, the work had to be done.
In just the same way, erosion in worldview and doctrine place the foundations of the American church at risk, and her living water supply line in danger of breaking. The foundations of the church are eroding, and so, the church itself is at great risk of collapse. There is no question of whether or not to repair. Whatever the cost, the work must be done.
“If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
Psalm 11.3
At the conclusion of The Barna Group’s most recent study on the American church, George Barna added an editorial note, an admonition that expressed his strong concern:
“Too often . . . people who are simply religious, or regular churchgoers, or perhaps people who want a certain reputation or image embrace the label ‘Christian,’ regardless of their spiritual life and intentions.” ’Christian’ has become somewhat of a generic term rather than a name that reflects a deep commitment to passionately pursuing and being like Jesus Christ.”
Being like Jesus Christ in
Worldview (how we see reality);
Doctrine (what we teach about reality):
Discipleship (how we live out reality as God sees and teaches it).
GAME-CHANGER #2: COMMUNITY
Studies also show that Christians are not finding meaningful relationships in the church. Faith community is a term in our mission statements, small groups, and announcements, but not our life as believers. Consumer Christianity rather than Romans 12 service is fixed ever more deeply as Reason One for “attending” a church (Biblically, is that even possible?). I don’t have to cite the stats, pastor: you’re dealing with them where you live and minister.
While we’re on the subject of pastors, studies (and conversations with pastors-of-pastors like me) indicate one possible contributing cause of this phenomenon: not even pastors are experiencing community.
50% have no accountability partner or friend.
70% report having no close friends;
80% don’t have a mentor.
These numbers indicate there is a good chance the loneliest person in church this Sunday will be the pastor, the shepherd of the “faith community.”
In spite of this, many pastors still refuse the opportunity to build relationships with peers. As a pastoral coach, I’ve seen it too many times: young ministers, lonely and discouraged, contact me to join Journey, telling me how lonely they are and how much they crave relationship. When I explain our Cross-Coaching approach, a model that includes walking with a mentor and peers, they light up at the “privilege” of walking with me, but bristle at the “burden” of walking with peers: “Can’t I just walk with you and forget the ‘extra stuff’.” “No,” I respond. “I won’t cheat you out of the full relational experience you need.” They thank me for my time, ask me how much they owe me for the session. “No money,” I tell them, “But I will tell you what you owe yourself: a mentor and peers with whom you walk in a meaningful way – just like Jesus did and taught with The Twelve.”
In a final attempt to persuade these ministers, I even cite studies that demonstrate the importance of deep relationships and community with peers. Like this 2018 blog by Elliot Grudem in which he wrote:
“The Lilly Endowment invested $84 million over 10 years to study and support the practices that allow Christian pastors in America to sustain excellence over the years. They funded 63 projects across 25 different denominations and traditions. Each organization made a similar discovery: relationships with peers are the key factor to pastoral longevity.” (Emphasis mine.)
Still unconvinced, these young ministers tell me goodbye and end our call to return to their lonely lives.
They readily admit they are lonely and don’t know what to do to fix it. I offer them what we and many others ministries like ours have found to be biblically sound and effective in addressing their pain. But still, they walk away. When they called me, they didn’t know what to do to fix their loneliness, but when they ended the call, they somehow knew what not to do.
Question: if they don’t know how to fix their own loneliness, how can they lead others out of it? If they are afraid of meaningful relationships and community, how can they lead their churches into it?
FINAL WORD
In this article, I’ve identified two game-changing, foundational challenges for the church in 2022: Reality and Community. We are weak and weakening in our grasp on both. And the prospects are not promising.
Reality:
Our worldview – our view of reality – is not in focus with God’s view of reality;
Our doctrine – what we teach about reality – is not in line with what God teaches about reality;
Our discipleship – how we are living out God’s view and teaching of reality does not line up with
God’s view and teaching.
Community:
Study after study says we are not finding meaningful relationships in the church. We are not a community of believers but a collection of consumers.
Put the two together and an alarm must be raised. Though we continue to talk, post, and brand ourselves a “faith community,” there is great evidence of a weakening faith and community in the church.
COVID has demonstrated that we did not have 20/20 vision of ourselves in 2020 – the church was not, and is not, nearly as strong as we thought. It’s time to admit it, take off our rose-colored “20/20” glasses and see the world, the church, and ourselves as we really are. It’s time we put on “22/22” lenses so we can at last see and understand the truth, and then ask ourselves what can we do about the current health of the church – what must we do about it.
That’s the first lens of our 22/22 glasses. In our next article to be released in two weeks, we’ll put the second lens in place: what we can do about it.
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