BARNA: More on the 'REVOLUTION'
Posted by: prophetic <prophetic@...>
-The Barna Group.
For decades the primary way that Americans have experienced
and expressed their faith has been through a local church. That
reality is rapidly changing, according to researcher George Barna,
whose new book on the transitioning nature of America's spirituality,
entitled 'Revolution', describes what he believes will be the most
massive reshaping of the nation's faith community in more than a century.
Relying upon national research conducted over the past several
years, Barna profiles a group of more than 20 million adults
throughout the nation labeled 'revolutionaries'. He noted that
although measures of traditional church participation in activities
such as worship attendance, Sunday school, prayer, and Bible
reading have remained relatively unchanged during the past twenty
years, the Revolutionary faith movement is growing rapidly. "These
are people who are less interested in attending church than in
being the church," he explained. "We found that there is a
significant distinction in the minds of many people between the
local church - with a small 'c' - and the universal Church - with a
capital 'C'. Revolutionaries tend to be more focused on being the
Church, capital C, whether they participate in a congregational
church or not."
"A common misconception about revolutionaries," he continued,
"is that they are disengaging from God when they leave a local
church. We found that while some people leave the local church
and fall away from God altogether, there is a much larger segment
of Americans who are currently leaving churches precisely
because they want more of God in their life but cannot get what
they need from a local church. They have decided to get serious
about their faith by piecing together a more robust faith experience.
Instead of going to church, they have chosen to be the Church, in
a way that harkens back to the Church detailed in the Book of Acts."
BIG CHANGES in the MAKING
One of the most eye-opening portions of the research contained in
the book describes what the faith community may look like twenty
years from now. Using survey data and other cultural indicators he
has been measuring for more than two decades, Barna estimates
that the local church is presently the primary form of faith
experience and expression for about two-thirds of the nation's
adults. He projects that by 2025 the local church will lose roughly
half of its current 'market share' and that alternative forms of faith
experience and expression will pick up the slack. Importantly,
Barna's studies do not suggest that most people will drop out of a
local church to simply ignore spirituality or be freed up from the
demands of church life. Although there will be millions of people
who abandon the entire faith community for the usual reasons -
hurtful experiences in churches, lack of interest in spiritual matters,
prioritizing other dimensions of their life - a growing percentage of
church dropouts will be those who leave a local church in order to
intentionally increase their focus on faith and to relate to God
through different means. That growth is fueling alternative forms of
organized spirituality, as well as individualized faith experience
and expression. Examples of these new approaches include
involvement in a house church, participation in marketplace
ministries, use of the Internet to satisfy various faith-related needs
or interests, and the development of unique and intense
connections with other people who are deeply committed to their
pursuit of God.
SEVEN PASSIONS of the REVOLUTIONARY
In the effort to increase their obedience and faithfulness to God,
Barna discovered that Revolutionaries are characterized by what
he identified as a set of spiritual passions - seven specific
emphases that drive their quest for God and a biblical lifestyle.
Although these are areas of spiritual development that most local
churches address, millions of adults who are the most serious
about their faith in God were the ones least likely to be satisfied
by what their local church was delivering in terms of resources,
opportunities, evaluation and developmental possibilities. The
consequence is that millions of committed born again Christians
are choosing to advance their relationship with God by finding
avenues of growth and service apart from a local church.
Asked if this meant that the Revolution he describes is simply a
negative reaction to the local church, he suggested that most
Revolutionaries go through predictable phases in their spiritual
journey in which they initially become dissatisfied with their local
church experience, then attempt to change things so their faith
walk can be more fruitful. The result is that they undergo
heightened frustration over the inability to introduce positive change,
which leads them to drop out of the local church altogether, often
in anger. But because this entire adventure was instigated by their
love for God and their desire to honor Him more fully, they finally
transcend their frustration and anger by creating a series of
connections that allow them to stay close to God and other
believers without involvement in a local church.
One of the hallmarks of the Revolution of faith is how different it is
for each person. "It would be wrong to assume that all
Revolutionaries have completely turned their back on the local
church," the researcher stated. "Millions of Revolutionaries are
active in a local church, although most of them supplement that
relationship with participation in a variety of faith-related efforts
that have nothing to do with their local church. The defining
attribute of a Revolutionary is not whether they attend church, but
whether they place God first in their lives and are willing to do
whatever it takes to facilitate a deeper and growing relationship
with Him and other believers. Our studies persuasively indicate
that the vast majority of American churches are populated by
people who are lukewarm spiritually. Emerging from those
churches are people dedicated to becoming Christ-like through the
guidance of a congregational form of the church, but who will leave
that faith center if it does not further such a commitment to God.
They then find or create alternatives that allow that commitment to flourish."
How do most Revolutionaries justify calling themselves devoted
disciples of Christ while distancing themselves from a local church?
"Many of them realize that someday they will stand before a holy
God who will examine their devotion to Him. They could take the
safe and easy route of staying in a local church and doing the
expected programs and practices, but they also recognize that
they will not be able to use a lackluster church experience as an
excuse for a mediocre or unfulfilled spiritual life. Their spiritual
depth is not the responsibility of a local church; it is their own
responsibility. As a result, they decide to either get into a local
church that enhances their zeal for God or else they create
alternatives that ignite such a life of obedience and service. In
essence, these are people who have stopped going to church so
they can be the Church."
CHALLENGES and OPPORTUNITIES
While the Revolution brings with it some very promising qualities -
an intense pursuit of godliness, new networks of believers
supporting each other, heightened financial giving to ministry
endeavors, greater sensitivity to the presence of God in the world,
a greater sense of freedom to be a genuine disciple in the midst
of a secular society - Barna also pointed out that the Revolution
brings great challenges to those who choose that pathway.
"There is the danger of exposure to unbiblical or heretical teaching.
There is the possibility of experiencing isolation from a true
community of believers and the accountability and support that
can provide. It could become easier to hoard one's treasures rather
than giving generously. Some might find it more difficult to sustain
a life of worship without a place or means of expressing that
praise to God."
Barna contends that these are very serious challenges faced by
Revolutionaries - but that they are no more serious than the
threats to the spiritual health of regular church-goers. "Objectively
speaking, these are the very same problems that we identify
among people who rely upon the efforts of a local church to
facilitate their growth. We find plentiful evidence of unbiblical
teaching in small groups, Sunday school classes and other local
church venues. We know that few churched Christians give 4% of
their income back to God, much less 10%. We recognize that
most people attending worship services in a church sanctuary
leave feeling that God was not present and that they did not
personally connect with the living God through that experience.
We have identified the relative absence of accountability within
most congregations. So even though Revolutionaries face serious
challenges in blossoming into the fervent God-follower they hope
to become, perhaps the main difference is simply that they
have a wider range of options for achieving their faith goals than
do people who are solely focused on faith delivered through a local
church. In either case, it is ultimately up to the individual to make
sure that they have their spiritual priorities right, that they are
investing themselves in activities that draw them closer to God,
and that they stay focused on pleasing God more than themselves
or other people."
The explosion of Revolutionaries in the U.S., however, raises new
challenges for people involved in ministry. "This new movement of
God demands that there be new forms of leadership to
appropriately guide people in their faith journey," Barna said. "It
requires new ways of measuring how well the Church at-large is
doing, getting beyond attendance figures as the indicator of health.
And it demands that new tools and resources be accessible to a
growing contingent of people who are seeking to introduce their
faith into every dimension of their life."
AN INTRODUCTION to the REVOLUTION
Having written three-dozen previous books about faith and culture,
Barna feels that this book may ultimately wind up being the most
significant volume he has written. In the course of doing his
customary national research studies, he stumbled onto the
Revolution. "Having been personally frustrated by the local church,
I initiated several research projects to better understand what
other frustrated followers of Christ were doing to maintain their
spiritual edge. What emerged was a realization that there is a
large and rapidly-growing population of Christ-followers who are
truly want to be like the church we read about in the book of Acts.
We began tracking their spiritual activity and found that it is much
more robust and significant than we ever imagined - and, frankly,
more defensible than what emerges from the average Christian
church. But, because the Revolution is neither organized nor
designed to create an institutional presence, it typically goes undetected."
Revolution, published by Tyndale House, is what the author calls
"a brief introduction to the most important spiritual movement of
our age." He believes that fifty years from now historians will look
back at this period and label it one of the most significant periods
in American Church history. "I would not be surprised," the
California-based researcher noted, "if at some point this becomes
known as the Third Great Awakening in our nation's history. This
spiritual renaissance is very different from the prior two religious
awakenings in America, but it may well become the most profound."
LINK: http://www.barna.org
----------------------------------------------
Source: http://www.joelnews.org
----------------------------------------------