Check out this article on crosswalk. A very interesting article on the decline of moral values in the UK. The study covered 14,000 people on why the church has seen such a decline in the UK, and what can be done about it.
I'd be really interested to see what people think about this article. Leave me comments!
2 comments:
This article seems to make the churches of the UK sound no different than 90% of the churches in America. You walk into most protestant churches (I pick on protestants because I know protestant churches, I doubt catholic churches are much different) and you will hear, "God loves you for who you are, no matter what that is. He just wants you to believe in Him". Can you blame people for being apathetic when this is what they hear? This is not the word of God, this is no double edged sword, this is not convicting.
This is the real problem with the modern watered-down Christianity, people know it's not real even if they don't know that they know that it's not real. Luckily, here in Ann Arbor/Detroit-area there seems to be a huge increase in interest in a real relationship with God. Most of the increased interest seems to be pushing people into non-demoninational Bible Churches. It's a great start but there has to actually be people and places where the true word is spoken in order to show people the Truth. Sounds like the UK is begging for churches that profess the true word of God, not just the UK but everywhere.
I've talked to so many friends from college who feel something is missing from their life and they're trying to find it, but because they have tried 'Christianity' they know it's something else. They usually end up going to boyfriends/girlfriends, alcohol, video games, fraternities, or careers trying to fill the void. These people, though they hardly recognize it, are looking for something real, something solid, something convicting.
Are we giving it to them? Are we the light we should be?
Not the verse I was looking for...but it's close:
Deut 6:6-8
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
(Sorry, this ended up being longer than I expected, hopefully it makes some sense...great article, thanks for pointing it out)
What a great and sobering article! And actually...it reminded me of some of our churches here in America. This is not verbatim, but the pastor of the largest church in the U.S. said that he never preaches on "sad" topics, but always keeps his messages happy and encouraging. His slogan is "Discover the Champion in you." I know some pastors who refuse to preach on topics that might "offend" someone in the audience. I think that Dan is right; God's love is a huge topic in today's sermons, while sin is rarely, if ever, mentioned in some churches. And I would guess that many churches seldomly teach on apologetics or theology. Very, very sad.
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