RISE OF THE “NONES" - Part 1 of 3

The number of Americans who do not identify with any religion continues to grow at a rapid pace.  One-fifth of the U.S. public – and a third of adults under 30 – are religiously unaffiliated today, the highest percentages ever in Pew Research Center polling.  They are referred to as the “nones.”

The prequel to the “nones” is the “nominals.”  The number of “nominal Christians” is growing.  Who are they?  They’re Christians by name, but their way of living suggests otherwise.  They say they identify with Christ, but they’re not committed to following Him.  To borrow from Drew Dyck, managing editor of Leadership Journal: Nominal Christians have a positive view of the faith such that they identify with Christianity.  They don’t put Christianity down or deny the existence of God, but you can’t distinguish them from those who are not Christians.

We may think that what they need is a nudge to become fully committed to following Jesus.  But maybe you’ve tried that as I have and found that many times it just doesn’t work.  In our culture today I’m coming to believe that what nominal Christians need is not a nudge, but a jolt.  This doesn’t exclude loving and being sensitive to needs, but that’s not enough anymore.

Nominalism is really a spiritual delusion.  And it’s a dangerous one.  Why?  Because it can inoculate against God’s truth, the real gospel.  Atheists may be hostile to Christianity, but they certainly understand their relationship to it.  On the other hand, nominal Christians claim a Christian identity for many unbiblical reasons:  “I’m a good person.”  “I do good things for people.”  “My grandmother was a church-goer.”  These are misconceptions according to the Bible, and they should be addressed according to God’s truth, though in a sensitive manner.

One day Jesus confronted a crowd of would-be followers with some sobering words:   A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.  And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:25-27 NLT).  Jesus uses a hyperbole of speech to make His point, and it comes across strong, as He intended.  Our tendency is to make people comfortable and downplay the hard realities of following Jesus.  But many times Jesus made prospective followers uncomfortable and pointed out just how difficult it was to follow Him.

There comes a time as you lovingly relate to nominal Christians, that you must present them with the hard truth of what it means to follow Jesus.  Seeing where they are spiritually in relation to God is a necessary step toward faith for them, as it is for all of us.  We don’t needlessly offend.  We must be wise and sensitive in how we communicate the message of Christ.  But at some point, like Jesus, you’ve got to spell it out.  Spell out what following Him involves… and then let the chips fall where they may.

John Stott said in his book, Basic Christianity, “thousands of people still ignore Christ’s warning and undertake to follow Him without first pausing to reflect on the cost of doing so.  The result is the great scandal of Christendom today, so-called ‘nominal Christianity’”.

When faced with the all-or-nothing demands of following Jesus, many nominal Christians will respond with genuine faith.  Others will walk away.  But at least they’re freed from their delusion that blinds them to their real need for Christ.