Are Christians Shapers or the Shaped?

It is rather amazing how far the Christian faith in America has fallen. For most of its history, American society has been guided by biblical worldview beliefs. Now don’t get me wrong. This does not mean that in the past all Americans, or even most, were actually born again believers. In fact, it doesn’t even mean that most actually personally lived out Christian values in daily life. What it does mean is that, at the very least, most people believed that the values taught in the Bible were right, and that they ought to live by them (even if they chose not to).

Historically, our nation was founded mostly by people who were Christians and were committed to biblical beliefs. In fact, as they established the structure of our nation, they did so by consciously building specific biblical principles into our founding documents. Principles such as man’s inclination to sin, natural law, constitutional authority, free enterprise, individual ownership of property, freedom of conscience, federalism, and separation of powers are all concepts that directly emerge from a biblical worldview.

And when it came to values, such beliefs as the value of human life, equality of opportunity, individual liberty, judicial impartiality, due process, equal justice under the law, and the importance of truth and integrity were also assumed to be right based on biblical teachings. And here also, even people who did not live by these principles, at the very least, believed these were right.

Throughout our history, it is certainly true that America has seen its share of darkness from not living up to our ideals. We have endured an era of slavery, ill treatment of native Americans, corrupt politicians, organized crime, scandalous entertainment of all kinds, lying and cheating in business, unjust wars, and we could probably go on all day listing various evils that have dogged our society. But the one thing we always had was the biblical ideal to measure ourselves against, and a tug in our collective national heart to correct wrongs when they finally became too egregious to ignore.

But we live in a new day. Over the years, the number of true believers in Christ has gradually diminished in a way that has brought our society to a place we have never been before. Now, not only do we have a large segment of the population that are living contrary to the teachings of the Bible, but a huge majority who don’t even see biblical values as representing the way we ought to live.

Christian pollster George Barna, in some of his recent polling, has quantified some of this for us. It seems that throughout American history, Christian evangelicals have been the group of Americans who have been most serious about living out the biblical ideal, and calling those who had drifted away from it back to God. This was the group that basically served as the moral compass for the nation.

In recent years, though, a couple of dramatic changes have taken place as it relates to the religious beliefs of Americans. One change is in the number of those who claim to be Christians. In the 1950s, as many as 95% of Americans claimed to be Christians. The number now is about 65%. Of that 65%, around 40% claim to be evangelical. On the other side of the ledger, the number who claim to be religiously unaffiliated is up to about 30%.

There is a second change that has paralleled the first. Not only has the number of evangelicals dropped, but so has their commitment level. Once again, Barna gives us some insights. According to his polling, while 40% claim to be evangelicals, only about 10% actually meet the theological criteria for being an evangelical. Most are EINOs (Evangelicals in Name Only). The result is that they don’t act like evangelicals. Their church attendance is sporadic, they don’t live by biblical values, and they rarely, if ever, share their faith with non-believers. What has happened is that rather then being people who influence society towards God, they have been influenced by society away from God while maintaining their evangelical identity.

Barna has identified one segment of the evangelical community who are actually the ones who believe and act like evangelicals. He calls them SAGE Cons (spiritually active, governance engaged conservatives). This is the current group that is most likely to consistently promote their faith (both through evangelism and in other areas of life – like voting and making their voices heard concerning anti-Christian actions by politicians and corporations). Most self-identified evangelicals in our day are not willing to do those things.

Unless and until those who claim the name of Christ start taking seriously their faith, the road forward for America looks dark. The naturalistic worldview beliefs that now dominate American society does not have the foundational belief set that is capable of providing society with the kind of values that can support societal stability.

Freddy Davis is the president of MarketFaith Ministries. He is the author of numerous books entitled The Truth Mirage, Rules for Christians Radicals, Liberalism vs. Conservatism, and his latest book Shattering the Truth Mirage and has a background as an international missionary, pastor, radio host, worldview trainer, and entrepreneur. Freddy is a graduate of Florida State University with a BS in Communication, and holds MDiv and DMin degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a popular speaker, particularly on the topic of worldview and its practical implications for the Christian life. He lives in Tallahassee, FL, with his wife Deborah.

You may also contact Freddy at Leadership Speakers Bureau to schedule him for speaking or leadership engagements.

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