Changing World

Mainline Christian denominations are dying. It's a fact. Membership is declining and the average age of members is increasing. If the trend continues, the church is in big trouble. So there has been a lot of talk about how to bring in young people and grow the church.

This often leads to discussion of content and style. And, while I'm sure style of music and type of worship matter, I'm not sure that's the only factor. Our world has changed. Our society has changed. The way people engage the world and each other has changed. So when we focus on making stylistic changes, how does that match the way people communicate today.

In the movie "Wall-E," which is ostensibly for kids, we get a depiction of the future of humanity. We all zoom around on our personal vehicles, we are constantly plugged in, and we are badly out of shape. Most probably laughed that off. It is funny. But it might also just be a projection of the path we're on. This is where I get stumped when thinking about how we reach the next generation.

In the past, people came to church to find Jesus, but they also came to find each other. It was a place of community. It was a place of sharing ideas and lives. People also had block parties, were friendly with neighbors, and joined service clubs. To be social, to have connection, you had to leave your house and go where the people were.

That's probably still true today. If you want to have meaningful, deep communication you have to step outside your bubble and go where the people are. But our culture is moving away from deep connections to a series of more shallow connections. Why? Because of technology.

The gift of our advancements in technology is the world has gotten smaller. We can reach out and touch people a world away in the blink of an eye. But communication with this vast pool of people has become more shallow. Where a thoughtfully crafted letter of a long phone call conveyed information and built a relationship, we tend to form connections through quick posts of Facebook, short texts with friends, or 140-character bits of wisdom on Twitter. People have hundreds of thousands of friends, but how many really know them?

The Internet has allowed us to connect to many more people and share our opinions with the world 24/7, but who will be by your side when you have surgery, a parent dies, or you're feeling blue? A phone can't hug you and a brightly lit computer screen is a poor substitute for human connection, but that's where we're heading.

When I worked for the newspaper I did a story on the decline in membership with traditional service clubs, like the Lions Club, Quota Club, etc. Working in a small town, I knew how much those clubs benefitted the community. On scholarship night for high school seniors those clubs, the bedrock of the community for years, provided thousands for students. But the average age of their members was in their 60s, and their numbers continued to decline. It's reasonable to wonder whether they will exist in 20 years.

The same thing happened with singles groups at church. That was once a vibrant and vital ministry. Today, not so much. It makes sense given the rise of Internet dating. I met my wife that way, and I'm hardly alone.

So how do we bring the Gospel to the next generation when the way they engage in the world has changed? I'm not sure I have the answers, but it's the question we must continue to ask ourselves. All the style changes in the world won't help if people aren't willing to step outside their door.