Jay, you touch on an important aspect of our culture. I will only address what I know best. I believe church attendance started dropping in the 2000s because the older generation started dying off. Unfortunately, the mainline Protestant denominations had long ago discarded much of the truths of Scripture and so lost the younger generations entirely. After all, if the Holy Bible isn't 100% reliable, why bother? Yes, some of the young go to "church" but those churches resemble clubs more than churches with their staged lights, pastor in jeans, singing choruses from a wall, and so on. It is designed as a "feel good" experience; rather than a life-changing encounter with Christ Jesus. Even some Bibles are suspect, as your quote from Genesis 2:18 has been made "politically correct" rather than translated properly. The term is "man" which makes total sense as only Adam was created at that time. He wouldn't even have understood the meaning of the term "person" as he was then the only one. Some "Bibles" try to make God male/female or supposedly emphasis Scripture geared toward certain groups. Marketing has run wild and where Christ here today, he would need to once again clear out the moneychangers from the Temple of God.
Seriously, Jay, thank you for your deep thinking about such a major topic. Not many writers, secular or religious, touch on some of the deep topics you tackle. It is much appreciated.
Jay, you cite a fascinating statistic that a stable segment of approximately 60% of the American population were church-goers for decades, then by 2010 that dropped to 45%, and by 2020 it had dropped to just 30%. Is there any other foundational and essential aspect of our culture that has changed so greatly in so short a time? I doubt it. This is a clear indication of something causing a sweeping change.
Recently, Ligonier Ministries and Lifeway cooperated to do a survey of thousands of people in the USA and the UK. They asked one simple question: "Does the Bible have ANY authority in your life today?" (This broad question allows for affirmative answers from even the most liberal of people who identify as believers... even those who do not think the Bible is infallible and those who think the Bible is just one of many paths to God... and other such heresies). Even with the question being phrase as broadly and forgivingly as that, the responses were abysmal. In the USA, only 30% of people responded affirmatively (which exactly matches your own 30% statistic as of 2020). In the UK, it was a shocking 5% ... only one in twenty UK citizens... thought the Bible had ANY authority in their lives today.
Jay, you are also correct in noting that "modern culture often mimics the structure of religion". Woke and Secular Humanist culture which worship Mankind - who is a creation, or hyper-environmentalist worship of the Earth - which is a creation, rather than worship of the Creator, are all "False Gospels" about which the Bible warns us. These are also a breaking of the first commandment, to have no other things as "gods" before the true Creator God.
The only issue I would take with what you wrote is the idea that in all cultures throughout time, "people have always sought God". In fact, the Bible tells us that no person ever truly seeks after God on their own... it is God who initiates the relationship and draws individuals unto Himself. What the vast majority of people actually seek is the perceived benefits of a relationship with the god they envision. This is generally a god who loves them unconditionally, and never condemns them for their sins, and never requires anything self-sacrificing of them. This is Humanity making God in their image (rather than God making Humanity in His image), and this is idolatry... though few have the discernment to see this in others, or in themselves.
Jay, you touch on an important aspect of our culture. I will only address what I know best. I believe church attendance started dropping in the 2000s because the older generation started dying off. Unfortunately, the mainline Protestant denominations had long ago discarded much of the truths of Scripture and so lost the younger generations entirely. After all, if the Holy Bible isn't 100% reliable, why bother? Yes, some of the young go to "church" but those churches resemble clubs more than churches with their staged lights, pastor in jeans, singing choruses from a wall, and so on. It is designed as a "feel good" experience; rather than a life-changing encounter with Christ Jesus. Even some Bibles are suspect, as your quote from Genesis 2:18 has been made "politically correct" rather than translated properly. The term is "man" which makes total sense as only Adam was created at that time. He wouldn't even have understood the meaning of the term "person" as he was then the only one. Some "Bibles" try to make God male/female or supposedly emphasis Scripture geared toward certain groups. Marketing has run wild and where Christ here today, he would need to once again clear out the moneychangers from the Temple of God.
Seriously, Jay, thank you for your deep thinking about such a major topic. Not many writers, secular or religious, touch on some of the deep topics you tackle. It is much appreciated.
Jay, you cite a fascinating statistic that a stable segment of approximately 60% of the American population were church-goers for decades, then by 2010 that dropped to 45%, and by 2020 it had dropped to just 30%. Is there any other foundational and essential aspect of our culture that has changed so greatly in so short a time? I doubt it. This is a clear indication of something causing a sweeping change.
Recently, Ligonier Ministries and Lifeway cooperated to do a survey of thousands of people in the USA and the UK. They asked one simple question: "Does the Bible have ANY authority in your life today?" (This broad question allows for affirmative answers from even the most liberal of people who identify as believers... even those who do not think the Bible is infallible and those who think the Bible is just one of many paths to God... and other such heresies). Even with the question being phrase as broadly and forgivingly as that, the responses were abysmal. In the USA, only 30% of people responded affirmatively (which exactly matches your own 30% statistic as of 2020). In the UK, it was a shocking 5% ... only one in twenty UK citizens... thought the Bible had ANY authority in their lives today.
Jay, you are also correct in noting that "modern culture often mimics the structure of religion". Woke and Secular Humanist culture which worship Mankind - who is a creation, or hyper-environmentalist worship of the Earth - which is a creation, rather than worship of the Creator, are all "False Gospels" about which the Bible warns us. These are also a breaking of the first commandment, to have no other things as "gods" before the true Creator God.
The only issue I would take with what you wrote is the idea that in all cultures throughout time, "people have always sought God". In fact, the Bible tells us that no person ever truly seeks after God on their own... it is God who initiates the relationship and draws individuals unto Himself. What the vast majority of people actually seek is the perceived benefits of a relationship with the god they envision. This is generally a god who loves them unconditionally, and never condemns them for their sins, and never requires anything self-sacrificing of them. This is Humanity making God in their image (rather than God making Humanity in His image), and this is idolatry... though few have the discernment to see this in others, or in themselves.
Awesome Jay, I love how you pulled the concept of “Community” together through multiple examples. Humans are stronger together, not alone.
Thank you, Jay, for your insight.
Very much an epic Sunday....if i'm understanding your personal event this day. Welcome my brother in Christ!!