Knowledge [alone] makes [people self-righteously] arrogant, but love [that unselfishly seeks the best for others] builds up and encourages others 1 Corinthians 8:1
One of the shifts in the way the Christian faith is being lived out today compared to 30, 50, or 100 years ago is that people have become less and less interested in explanations about God and more interested in experiencing His nature in their own lives. This comes from a Barna Research Group study of thousands of Americans from all walks of life.
Not that explanations about God is a bad thing, but that without love, it is nothing, zilch, nadda (1 Cor 13:2). God has been being explained for centuries and often today’s verse just gets proven all over again…Knowledge alone makes people self-righteously arrogant. Love, on the other hand, encourages people.
Despite millennia of study attempting to define God academically, many people—many Christians meticulously educated in prominent Bible schools and seminaries—have underdeveloped or distorted views of God. They see Him through lenses, shaped and clouded by a lack of love… lenses that have not accurately reflected His kindness and His goodness… His care.
But this has changed significantly in the past 10-15 years. George Barna, whose firm conducted the study mentioned earlier, pointed out that this is not mere speculation—something we’ll see in the near future—but that this spiritual makeover is already taking place.
A few interesting (to me) findings:
71% say they are “more likely to develop my religious beliefs on my own, rather than to accept an entire set of beliefs that a particular church teaches.” Levels of distrust toward churches, church leaders, and organized Christianity have been growing over the past two decades.
64% say they are “completely open to carrying out and pursuing your faith in an environment or structure that differs from that of a typical church.” And this statistic is not millennial-driven. The baby boomers (68%) are at the fore-front of this movement. Two out of three adults contend that they are not tied to a conventional church setting as they seek to experience and express their faith.
68% of those who are driving these changes are women (compared to 59% men). Across the study, women were more likely than men to pursue their faith in a different type of structure or environment than the typical church; to sense that God is motivating people to experience their faith in different ways (79% vs. 60%, respectively); and to be willing try alternatives to typical church (50% vs. 40%)
Why is this encouraging? Christians are taking responsibility for their own relationship with God. There is no chance that a Christian celebrity, a pastor, or a church/denomination can be Jesus for us. Knowledge alone is being seen for what it is, a tool rather than a destination. Christians are becoming more doubtful that they have God all tied up in a box with a bow on it and more open to discover Who He is, what He wants to be for us and what He wants to do in partnership with us.
This perfectly positions us to discover something new, glorious, and wonderful about our fathomless God. After all, “wonderful” is one of His names.
As a side thought: Obviously, this might not be encouraging to people who think they have God tied up in a box, or those who don’t believe God can be trusted with His people (without some kind of intermediary). Excesses will happen (excesses already happen in typical church structures). Error will happen (errors already happen in typical church structures). People will be injured spiritually (people are already injured spiritually in typical church structures). “For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” (Acts 5:38-39)