Tag: politics
How Identity Politics is Costing You Money
Posted on April 17, 2018 in Money, Public Policy by Nathan Cherry
In recent years we’ve become more knowledgeable about the causes many corporations support than their actual services. Scores of people can’t tell you what’s inside a Hobby Lobby store, but they know they would never step foot inside because they support traditional marriage. Others have no idea what an AR style gun is and don’t know a single NRA member by name, but they know both are evil.
A Millennial Writes an Open Letter to the Church. And He Nails It!
Posted on July 29, 2015 in Theology by Nathan Cherry
Church “experts” and analysts seem to be in a frenzy trying to figure out how to keep millennials from walking away from the church. There’s a panic to discover the strategic secret to making sure those younger generations stay connected, attending, and active in church.
The result has been a whole-sale failure on the part of the church.
Before anyone gets too mad at me, understand that I was part of the problem. I watched church trends and attended really cool conferences and seminars to learn new tips and tricks to bringing young families in and keeping them. What I’ve come to realize is that no matter how hard the church tries to keep millennials – they will eventually walk away IF they’ve never had a life-changing encounter with Jesus.
You see, the problem is not the church format, or ministries, or anything inside the church. The problem is what’s going on inside the people inside the church. Too many people inside the church have never encountered Jesus and been saved from their sin.
Now, don’t get me wrong. If you’re still preaching topical sermons from a King James Bible after you sing every verse of 5 hymns from a dusty hymnal then your church has some problems. But those problems are just symptoms of a larger problem. The root cause can be found by looking into the hearts of the people and seeing that many that claim to be saved are in fact lost.
So trying to start new – really cool – ministries, or change the format is like putting a band aid over a gunshot wound; it simply won’t help.
I was encouraged by a recent article in which a young millennial encouraged the church to stop trying to be cool and simply preach the Gospel and address tough issues from a biblical perspective. There’s a novel idea.
How Nationalism Found Its Way Into the Church
Posted on July 14, 2014 in Religious Freedom, Theology by Derick Dickens
In the 1950′s, we were engaged in a cold war with the Soviet Union that lasted until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. In the cabinet and leadership of the United States was a growing fervor that the Cold War was a battle between two ideologies–a Christian worldview and an atheist.
Don’t get me wrong, there is some truth to that claim. The USSR thought they could build a country upon atheistic principles and operate their country better. They appeared to be succeeding in the 1950′s with the launch of Sputnik in ’57, our country was in turmoil. The Russians believed their order of society would out-pace American society and through war or ingenuity, they would win.
The U.S. Administration saw this as a battle between atheism and Christianity, a battle between two radically different views of the world.
Thus was birthed Christianity wrapped up in the flag.
Millennials Complain About Politics and Sex in the Church. Should We Care?
Posted on December 16, 2013 in Marriage, Theology by Nathan Cherry
Much has been said and written in the last decade concerning the troubling trend of Millennials leaving the church. Those that were born between 1980 and 2000 have been the subject of much speculation as they walk out of the church doors and appear to abandon their faith. The alarm has been sounded so loudly that it has reshaped the landscape of the American church as young pastors and seasoned veterans of ministry seek to retain the Millennials they have and reach the ones down the street.
A recent article titled “5 Possible Reasons Young Americans are Leaving Church and Christianity Behind” explores this topic with analysis gained from the vast resources of groups like Focus on the Family and the Barna Resource Group. It’s an interesting read.
While several of these reasons are suspect, to me, at least two of the stated reasons were easy to guess; and I would have been surprised if they were not on the list. The two are: Politics in the Pulpit and Sex.