The (Lieben)GOOD LIFE

I've been reading through Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America by Michael Emerson and Christian Smith in preparation for some lectures that I will give this semester in a course I teach on Christian vocation. It has been disheartening, illuminating, and motivating all at once. It has been particularly helpful to read this book, written twenty years ago, in our present context of heightened racial tension since the George Floyd, Breona Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery killings, and as evangelical churches are having more discussion about racism in America than in recent history.  It is important to note that this book is a sociological analysis of the way in which white (and in some cases black) evangelicals think about the race problem in America. That is to say that they are not offering a theological prescription for how to deal with our racialized society, nor are they trying to offer a robust way forward.  Rather, they are using the tools of s...

When we point a finger at our teenagers to decry their superficial faith and to lament their lack of spiritual fervor, we must remember that there are three fingers pointing back at us adults. In essence, this is what Kendra Creasy Dean argues in her challenging and provocative Almost Christian: what the faith of our teenagers is telling the American church: Let me save you some trouble. Here is the gist of what you are about to read: American young people are, theoretically, fine with religious faith—but it does not concern them very much, and it is not durable enough to survive long after they graduate from high school. One more thing: we’re responsible [adults that is]. If the American church responds, quickly and decisively…then tending the faith of young people may just be the ticket to reclaiming our own. As the following pages attest, the religiosity of American teenagers must be read primarily as a reflection of their parents’ religious devotion (or lack thereof) a...

Here is a summary with commentary of Barna's latest research on why young adults are leaving the church?