Megathemes: Part One-Education

I follow Diana Butler Bass, author of A People's History of Christianity, on Facebook. Today, she posted an article from The Barna Group, "Six Megathemes Emerge from Barna Group Research in 2010," which revealed some things that were observed through a survey that this group conducted over the last year. None of the six "megathemes" were really earth shattering to anyone who has been a part of a congregation anywhere in America in the last five to ten years.

Just so no-one thinks The Barna Group is some fly-by-night organization, let me tell you a bit about them. According to their website, this group was founded by George Barna and

is a private, non-partisan, for-profit organization that conducts primary research, produces media resources pertaining to spiritual development, and facilitates the healthy spiritual growth of leaders, children, families and Christian ministries. (www.barna.org)

This research has been going on since 1984, so these folk have seen a lot.

I found the first sentence of the article very telling: "Change usually happens slowly in the Church." As I finish Dr. Bass's book, I know that this is true. The Church has been slowly evolving (yes, a dangerous word) and changing since it's humble beginnings centuries ago. In the last twenty years, however, changes have come to the Church so fast that they are too much to process. Things that we took at face value have been questioned and shaken. Some might say that this is happening because of the Internet or television or our all-access exposure to all sorts of concepts and views of God that were once whispered but never really discussed. The Church has been playing catch up most of my adult life, and in some ways, I think it's not doing very well to keep up.

The first "megatheme" something I started figuring out when I would talk to my fellow Christians about scripture and they would give me blank looks. At first, this really stunned me. I grew up in a church environment rich with scriptural teaching and exposure. The first story I remember being told was the story of David and Goliath. While I cannot quote scripture precisely (I knew one minister when I was a child who could quote any verse in the Bible. It was a skill that was counted as exceptionally valuable in our denomination. I still feel a pang of guilt that memorization of scripture was not as important to me as I was taught it should be.), I know the stories, the people, the history, and the thematics of scripture. Many Christians, especially those of my generation (the article refers to us as Busters), however, do not. The article says something in regards to this weakness:

As the two younger generations (Busters and Mosaics) ascend to numerical and positional supremacy in churches across the nation, the data suggest that biblical literacy is likely to decline significantly. The theological free-for-all that is encroaching in Protestant churches nationwide suggests the coming decade will be a time of unparalleled theological diversity and inconsistency.

I agree and disagree with this observation. Biblical literacy is most likely to decline significantly, and yes, it will bleed down to many Mosaics (generation born 1984-2002) because Biblical and theological education is not pursued in many local churches. I know of some churches that have almost completely abandoned Sunday school. Many Christians not only have no Biblical education but also have no idea about the history of the Church.  With the decline of Biblical literacy, I can see people depending more and more on those who are considered educated to deliver and interpret the information of the scripture. In a sense, we are coming full circle back to the Christianity of the Middle Ages where the very few shared the scripture with the very many who could not read. Ladies and gentlemen, we are voluntarily walking into a very dangerous place. As far as the "theological free-for-all" I'm not sure that will happen on a congregational level except amongst those who actually have education. How can one argue theology if one has no idea what theology is or what one's theology might consist of? I'm not saying that most Christians are stupid--that's not it at all. I'm just saying that one cannot argue what one does not know.

I do agree that the next decade is going to be a time of "theological diversity." I already see that in our churches and outside our churches amongst those who have rejected the church but not the faith or God. We are looking for new ways to see and know God. Some of us have and will run to scriptures and, hopefully, contemplate the words and the truths that undergird the words. Some of us will see the things that connect our faiths with the faiths of others. Some of us will want to redefine and respeak their faith. As far as the "inconsistencies," I'm not so sure that there haven't always been inconsistencies. This is where things like denominations rise. Whether we like it or not, people have all sorts of views of how to relate to God. Education will not pull us all into some sort of theological line where we are all made of the same cookie dough and spout the same platitude about God. Education will allow us to be strong and make our decisions about God, our personal relationship with God, our relationship to the rest of the Christian community,  and the communities we live in. Education beget personal theology which, hopefully, reflects the faith walk of the individual.
 

Part two will discuss out-reach and how the church seems to be less about out-reach and more about other things.