I found an article recently with the title, “The Coming Evangelical Collapse.” The writer predicts a massive decline in the Christian culture in America in the next few years. Meditate on these snippets or click here to read the entire article by Michael Spencer.
We are on the verge – within 10 years – of a major collapse of evangelical Christianity. This breakdown will follow the deterioration of the mainline Protestant world and it will fundamentally alter the religious and cultural environment in the West.
Within two generations, evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its occupants. (Between 25 and 35 percent of Americans today are Evangelicals.) In the “Protestant” 20th century, Evangelicals flourished. But they will soon be living in a very secular and religiously antagonistic 21st century.
This collapse will herald the arrival of an anti-Christian chapter of the post-Christian West. Intolerance of Christianity will rise to levels many of us have not believed possible in our lifetimes, and public policy will become hostile toward evangelical Christianity, seeing it as the opponent of the common good.
Millions of Evangelicals will quit. Thousands of ministries will end. Christian media will be reduced, if not eliminated. Many Christian schools will go into rapid decline. I’m convinced the grace and mission of God will reach to the ends of the earth. But the end of evangelicalism as we know it is close.
Is this alarmist or discerning? Consider what Jesus said as recorded in Matthew 24 verse 3 and following…
The disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 9 Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
In the 1800s at London’s Metropolitan Tabernacle, where C.H. Spurgeon preached, 10,000 attended each Sunday. Great Britain had a solid Christian presence. I’m sure that those people never thought their nation would become as secular as it is today… but it did. Most churches in London today are virtually empty with but a few in attendance.
Is it possible that one day the Evangelical presence in America could cease to exist? The answer is yes… most certainly. As God’s activity moves from one place to another… one continent to another… one people group to another… the center of His activity changes. I suggest that what Mr. Spencer predicts about American Evangelicalism will one day be world wide… as Jesus predicted in the passage above.
So what? “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.” And last… “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
We do not know what the future holds… so we are to be faithful. Regardless of the events… be faithful. No matter what comes our way… be ready for Christ’s return.