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Complexities of Modern Faith

Complexities of Modern Faith
This month some families will celebrate Christmas with advent wreaths and calendars; some families can’t wait for the arrival of jolly old Saint Nicholas; some will light candles in celebration of Hanukkah; and still others will celebrate the holidays with a mixing and matching of various beliefs. A recent holiday survey from a group called Interfaith Family.com found a majority of families planned to celebrate some aspects of both Christmas and Hanukkah. Many of these families, struggling with the complexities of faith and family, have found glossing over theology to be the solution.
A recent survey from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that even elements of New Age and eastern thinking had been adopted by 65 percent of Americans – of all faiths. These families may attend worship services at more than one denomination or blend Christian tenets with mystical beliefs like reincarnation and astrology.  Large minorities of all faiths report experiences with the supernatural such as being in contact with the dead or ghosts. 
While most adults express a belief in or report experiencing at least one eastern or New Age spiritual element, white evangelical Protestants are the least likely to do so. While 10-15 percent of evangelical Protestants include non-biblical beliefs in their theology, that percentage drops with high levels of church commitment. From the general population, however, 24 percent of adults believe in reincarnation, and 23 percent accept yoga as a spiritual practice. Twenty-six percent believe spiritual energy can be found in an inanimate object, 25 percent believe in astrology, and 16 percent believe in an “evil eye” or that certain people can cast spells to harm others.  
According to the same Pew survey, nearly three-quarters of Americans say they attend religious services at least a few times annually. Of that, 38 percent claim to attend weekly, and 34 percent attend a couple of times a month or a few times a year. Roughly half of those who do go to a religious service, go to the same place each time, whereas the other half regularly or occasionally attend another place. 
Interfaith marriages are common in the United States, and the Pew survey found that couples with differing faiths tend to attend services less frequently than those with the same faith. Four-in-ten (or 43 percent) of interfaith couples say they seldom or never attend religious services compared to 21 percent of those who practice the same faith. 
The postmodern world system of today has led many individuals to discard truth in favor of a tolerance that rejects dogma and absolutes. Systematically, society has rejected truth – with its moral and religious standards – and is falling prey, not only to a jumbling of conflicting beliefs, but to a host of New Age and “eastern” philosophies and faiths. 
Culture today focuses on a nonjudgmental attitude, not limited to one truth, where all viewpoints and beliefs are to be accepted. Yet Christianity is a religion of black and white truths, bound up in the truth claims of God. As such, it is being rejected as intolerant and unacceptable. Commenting on the Pew survey, Albert Mohler, quoted in USA Today, said, “This is a failure of the pulpit as much as of the pew to be clear about what is and is not compatible with Christianity and belief in salvation only through Christ.” 
Surely the Pew survey provides a wake-up call to reverse the trend and focus on the truth of a biblical worldview, a systematic view of reality based on truth – not feelings or experience. In the Truth Project, Focus on the Family provides an excellent small-group, DVD-based curriculum on a biblical worldview. CFC offers training seminars throughout the state. Upcoming leader seminars will be in Roseville on January 9, 2010, in Orange on January 16, 2010, and in Livermore on January 30, 2010. Consider starting the New Year at one of these trainings. See CFC online for more information.
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