Something significant is happening with modern Christianity

There is a radical change taking place in American Christianity. It is affecting every Christian church and denomination from Roman Catholic to Baptist and Pentecostal and everything in between. It is evidenced by new Christian organizations popping up, books, articles and literature, and hard research numbers that are being shared by researchers such as the Barna Group, a leading researcher of Christianity.

These sources are reinforced and supplemented by a wave of anecdotal material.

What is causing the change is open to debate and speculation. Only history will tell the extent and impact of the movement.

At this point, many people identify with what is happening but do not even know what to call it. The words “liberal” and “conservative” do not seem to fit the discussions. Those involved in the phenomenon do not want to be tagged with either label.

Some want to embrace the word “progressive,” but many others want to run from that term, seeing it as intellectual arrogance. Still others are using the term “emergent church” and are calling themselves emergents. While these words are useful, they do not seem to be descriptive of what the change is all about.

The movement is very broad, but not well-defined. The Center for Progressive Christianity has published its own eight points. Those interested in this perspective can order study guides and discussion questions. Another publication summarizes the features of the movement in nine statements. The Emergent Village is yet another network of individuals and churches that is talking about what is happening. It eagerly uses words like “decentralized,” “cross cultural,” “global,” “post-modern” and “transparent.”

All of the discussions taking place are a powerful witness that something significant is happening. Attempts to organize the energy generated only confuse the dynamics. Definitions become the basis of exclusion. Exclusion is a key dynamic that involved people want to end.

As I began writing this epistle, I recognized that any contribution to the discussion that I might make is in danger of either being too general to be useful or too specific to be fair to the whole movement. I feel safe in putting my finger on three points that seem to appear on everyone’s list.

It is a Christian movement. The changes are not anti-religious or anti-Christianity. In fact, people appear to be very serious in their desire to be followers of Jesus, the rabbi from Nazareth. There is no shortage of critiques of institutional Christianity and questioning of creedal religious expressions, but that is not what the movement is about. The movement is made up of people who want to be seriously religious in the Christian tradition.

This is good news for the pastor, who is motivated to lead people in a vital, active, living faith. Such pastors are finding new energies for their congregations. They are finding new shoots growing out of an old stump.

Other pastors find the passions of this renewed spiritual interest threatening. This new breed of believers is coming with lots of questions and seeking honest discussions. Bible and Church authority is under question. If the opportunity for vigorous questioning and even debate is not available, the exit door is close by.

But leaving rigid churches is not an occasion for dropping out. These new religious types go looking for others of similar mind. The explosion of home churches without formally trained clergy is, I suspect, partly driven by religious interest that is not being met in traditional churches. The home church movement is well-documented. The people in home churches fit the profile of those involved in the movement. People want to be distinctly Christian and are committed.

The second observation about the movement is that participants are eager to live a Christian life. Their focus is on earthly life, not life after death in an ill-defined heaven.

These are the folk who have put Rick Warren’s “The Purpose Driven Life” on the all-time best seller list. The focus of their lives is not on themselves, but on needs of others. Their focus is on justice, peace, health and the healing of our environment. Their tools are love, kindness and generosity. Greed and self-interest are not on their value list.

The third observation is that those in the movement have a broad commitment to learning. Their profile carries a strong sense of curiosity. They belong to an information age. The expansion of Bible scholarship in the past 50 years has come to maturity and is in full bloom. Helpful information for those who are interested in a spiritual quest is available at the fingertips of everyone. Computers have removed the barriers to information. Knowing how to understand and interpret the Bible is no longer the private world of institutions and clergy. Those involved are some of the best-informed believers in the history of humankind.

Our world has no shortage of selfish, corrupt, greedy, hateful people. I have briefly tried to describe an antidote that has the potential to impact our world for the good. I believe a new, invigorated kind of Christian is coming to life. I really do not know what to call the phenomenon. I have decided I do not want to be known as a progressive or an emergent. Might being a follower of Jesus be enough?

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska. His e-mail address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.