Teen evangelicals send mixed signals

[CaroleG]

To hear evangelicals tell it, church leaders young and old, whether wearing vestigial tabs or Jesus T-shirts, are helpless against the Internet and Madison Avenue. Mainstream culture trumps God's word. Its magnetic power lures young Americans by mocking religion and making it seem passe. Even a hotline to Jesus does not allow them to compete with a nation they see as glorifying casual sex and hyper-sexuality while genuflecting to rap and hip-hop music whose lyrics preach sex, violence and materialism.

The Barna Group, a California-based polling firm that specializes in Americans' religious attitudes, may have the answer, which is somewhere in between The Washington Post's "teen Jesus freaks rule" approach and the Times' feared loss of young adherents for Christ. More Americans, teens included, are believers, according to the Barna Group. But they're believing at home instead of joining a church.

Barna's research may have un-covered the rumblings of a radical shift in the way Americans see religion and Christianity. More of them, young and old, believe faith is in the heart. They are worshiping at home with friends and family, without the guidance of an ordained church official. They see routine churchgoing as unnecessary for an individual's spiritual development.

What's facilitating the growth of home churches is, oddly enough, the Internet. We all know American teens are much more technology-savvy than their parents or grandparents. E-communication is making it easier for small groups of like-minded believers to find each other and buck large church organizations.

So while charismatic pastors pass the plate on Sunday to build and maintain ostentatious mega-churches, spiritual teens may be yearning to return to Jesus' ways in the New Testament. Maybe they have more sense than their parents. Maybe they seek simplicity and yearn to revive the tradition established during Christianity's first three centuries in which home churches were the norm: "Aquila and Prisca greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house." (1 Corinthians 16:19)


http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06291/730749-109.stm

[msongs]

1. mainstream culture IS GOD's WILL ...if wasnt, it wouldnt exist

because everything is god's will, according to baptists.

jeez, can we get all the people waiting for the rapture to leave NOW so we would have a better planet?

Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm