Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Pangea Blog

Home

Home
Progressive Christian
Evolving Evangelicalism (part 2): Young Adults Leave the Church and Pastors SHOULD Care!

Evolving Evangelicalism (part 2): Young Adults Leave the Church and Pastors SHOULD Care!

Last updated on: May 8, 2012 at 10:28 pm by Kurt Willems

Evolving Evangelicalism (part 2): Young Adults Leave the Church and Pastors SHOULD Care! 2012-05-08T22:28:51-07:00 Kurt Willems

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The following series is based on my senior paper for Seminary. You may remember a video where I invited people to contribute their stories to help make my case. For the next couple weeks, I’ve decided to share my findings with you all. There will be a “thesis/problem” section, a “biblical theology” section, and an “application” section. I hope you will read along and share this with others! You can read the rest of the series here.
—————————————————————————————

Evolving Evangelicalism: Inviting Church Leaders to Refine their Approach to Scripture and Origins (part 2)

The Problem of Young Adults Avoiding or Leaving the Church

In a recent study conducted by the Barna Group called, “Six Reasons Young Christians Leave Church,” the third reason claims, “Churches come across as antagonistic to science.”[1] Other reasons include: “Churches seem overprotective;” “The church feels unfriendly to those who doubt;” and “Teens’ and twenty-somethings’ experience of Christianity is shallow.”

All of these reasons are pertinent to this discussion, but antagonism toward science specifically highlights our concern. The study continues: 29% (three in ten young adults) feel that “churches are out of step with the scientific world we live in;” 25% dislike that “Christianity is anti-science;” and 23% are “turned off by the creation-versus-evolution debate.” The dispute between evangelicalism and evolution is pushing young adults out of the church.

The same perceptions prevail in my interactions with non-Christians. A close friend, a spiritual agnostic, has a brother intensely committed to convincing him of the error of his ways. Creationism consumes much of their dialogues. This brother embraces a seven-day creation, and has traveled to the Mecca of creation science: The Creation Museum in Petersburg, KY. This museum displays Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and children co-existing with dinosaurs by Eden’s Rivers.[2] After viewing the exhibits of the Earth’s supposed 6,000-year history, the brother confronted my friend with arguments for this literal approach to Genesis. My friend told me that a major turnoff to Christianity is this militant anti-science agenda. This instinct resonates with the majority (72%) of religiously-unaffiliated Americans, who believe that evolution provides the best explanation for human origins.[3]

Another friend married a woman from a traditional evangelical family. This friend is thoughtful and well-read. He worries that accepting evangelical faith would mean dismissing his intellectual integrity. Until he heard about the perspective explored in this paper, “traditional” creationism remained his one major stumbling block to Christ.

A similar scenario came up in a conversation with a single mom at my former church. She loves the church, and embraces the idea of being missional in the city and world; yet, she remains a “skeptic” regarding the full acceptance of Christ because of her beliefs about the Earth’s origins. The posture of evangelicalism toward the scientific community continues to be a stumbling block between people and a life of committed Christianity.

The Problem Pastors Perpetuate

In my experience, some evangelical pastors are open to the idea of “theistic evolution.” While holding this perspective as a viable option alongside young and old-earth creationism, they often choose to preach and teach as though Genesis 1 is to be read as a description of how creation took place. Such pastors may never mention other faithful methods for interpreting this passage in order to avoid congregational conflict; therefore, many people in the pews assume that the traditional reading is the only correct one.

Unfortunately, most mainstream evangelical materials defend young or old-earth creationism over and against atheism. By equating evolution with atheism, members are presented with a false polarity. This environment fosters situations like the one above, where the single mom holds out as a “skeptic” because she cannot reconcile science with the Bible.

Other evangelical churches and pastors approach this issue in a more focused way. These churches are convinced that the Bible teaches a literal 7-day creation and that the world is only 6,000 years old. These same congregations may implement curriculum from organizations such as Answers in Genesis and The Institute for Creation Research. With an elevated view of modern apologetics, these churches perpetuate a false polarity as well.[4]

A recent survey is quite telling regarding general pastoral perspectives. According to a Lifeway poll, 64% of protestant pastors “strongly disagree” that “God used evolution to create people” [emphasis mine] compared to only 12% who “strongly agree.” Also telling, at least 30% “strongly agree” that the earth is 6,000 years old (16% “somewhat agree”).[5] A large number of pastors in the United States disagree with modern scientific understandings about human origins.

[1]. “Six Reasons Young Christians Leave the Church,” Barna Group, http://www.barna.org/teens-next-gen-articles/528-six-reasons-young-christians-leave-church (accessed February 9, 2012).

[2]. “About,” Creation Museum, http://creationmuseum.org/about/ (accessed February 9, 2012).

[3]. Allison Pond, Gregory Smith, and Scott Clement, “Religion Among the Millennials: Less Religiously Active Than Older Americans, but Fairly Traditional in Other Ways,” Pew Research Center: A Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life Report (2010): 21, http://www.pewforum.org/Age/Religion-Among-the-Millennials.aspx (accessed February 9, 2012).

[4]. Two mega-churches in Fresno exemplify this approach. The first, The Well Community Church, is a church with many young adults. Their discipleship program called, The Academy, teaches young earth creationism (http://thewellcommunity.org/equipping/academy/ot-historical-books). The second, Northside Christian Church, hosted an Answers in Genesis seminar called: Not Ashamed – Creation, Evolution, and the Biblical Worldview (Northside Christian University: Fall Course Catalogue, 2010).

[5]. “Poll – Pastors oppose evolution, split on earth’s age,” LifeWay Research (2012), http://www.lifeway.com/Article/Research-Poll-Pastors-oppose-evolution-split-on-earths-age (accessed February 11, 2012). Detailed research findings and images available at website.

(Series) Evolving Evangelicalism

journey of the universe

Previous Post

May 7, 2012

Bill Nye Boo'd In Texas For Saying The Moon Reflects The Sun (Really???)

Next Post

May 8, 2012 Shocking Abuses Uncovered at Tyson Pork Supplier (heartbreaking - you can help!)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category (Series) All Out War-Spiritual Warfare (Series) Church Plant Journal (Series) Dear Reader... (Series) Earthquakes...Signs of the Times? (Series) Entering the... Conversation (Series) Evangelical Culture Myths (Series) Everything is Meaningless [Pete Enns] (Series) Evolving Evangelicalism (Series) Hell Yes. Hell No! Who Cares? (Series) Hidden Worldviews (Series) If Evolution is Right, what about Adam? (Series) in less than 300 words (Series) Jesus and Nationalism (Series) Liberating Women for Ministry? (Series) Life-Changing Books (Series) Markers of Church Plant Movement (Series) Nonviolence 101 (Series) Philemon - Reconciliation (Series) Quote to Ponder (Series) Red Letter Dialogues (Series) Resource of the Week (SERIES) Revelation Sermons (Series) Share Something Sundays (Series) Simplicity in the Burbs: $2 a day (Series) The Binding of God [Open Theism] (Series) The Creed: Anabaptist Reflections (Series) Values for Church Leadership (Series) Video to Ponder Anabaptism Animal Advocacy Books Church Ministry Church Planting Community Culture Eschatology Eucharist Evangelical Reject Evolution Fundamentalism Greek Greg Boyd Guest Contributors Hell Holy Spirit Israel/Palestine Kingdom of God Lent Missional N. T. Wright Nationalism New Creation Nonviolence Open Mic Open Theism Parenting Passover Paul Philemon Podcast Politics Restorative Justice Revelation (the book of) Rob Bell Ron Martoia Sermon Shane Claiborne Social Justice Speaking Engagement Spiritual Warfare Spirituality Temple Theology Tim Geddert Tribulation Uncategorized universalism Video Blog Women in Ministry Worship Music Youth Ministry

Select a Month August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 October 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 December 2016 October 2016 August 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: Job lost all his children, wealth, and health in a single day.

Select your answer to see how you score.

FALSE TRUE

Support this
Column