Christians’ transition from majority to minority

Christians’ transition from majority to minority April 29, 2016

Josh Daffern says that all of the current controversies Christians are facing over religious liberty, sexuality, and the like are all symptoms of something bigger:  “The biggest issue American Evangelicals will face for the next 50 years is how we handle our transition from a moral majority to a prophetic minority.”

From Josh Daffern,  The Biggest Issue Evangelicals Will Face For the Next 50 Years

All of these issues are symptoms of a much bigger issue, an issue that I believe will define American evangelicals in the 21st century. As important is issues of religious liberty, sanctity of life and biblical standards of personhood and sexuality are, they are all symptoms of a much bigger narrative. The biggest issue American Evangelicals will face for the next 50 years is how we handle our transition from a moral majority to a prophetic minority. We are living in a post-Christian nation. The golden years of Christian influence on government and culture are behind us. The Moral Majority initiated culture wars in the 1980s to try and hold back the outgoing tide of our waning influence.

Whether we admit it or not, Christian values do not dominate anymore in America. We’ve lost our cultural influence to Hollywood. We’ve even lost our special day of the week to the NFL and NASCAR. We’re not dead in the water by any means, but our hopes of a Christian-dominated government/society/culture have long been dashed. We’re losing the culture wars.

But it’s not the end of the world. The early church grew and flourished in a society that was decidedly anti-Christian. The biggest issue for us is how we handle the transition from moral majority to prophetic minority. Do we go down kicking and screaming? Do we opt for a scorched earth policy, loudly condemning and judging everyone on our way to cultural obscurity? Do we jump ship and withdraw, removing ourselves from everything, circle the wagons and hold on till Jesus comes back? Do we throw our hands up, quit trying and just watch the whole place burn?

Or do we go back to our roots, to a time in history before we came to dominate civilization through the Roman Catholic Church, to the first century? Do we attempt to rediscover the essence of what it was that allowed the church to explode in growth despite the most hostile environment possible?

 [Keep reading. . .]

But aren’t Christians in the United States still a majority?  70.6% of Americans identify themselves as Christians.  So why have Christian values and ideas been declining?

At any rate, how might Christians “manage” this transition?

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