Young Evangelicals Are Getting High (flocking to Catholic and Anglican Churches)

the christian pundit ^ | July 17, 2013

[JCBreckenridge]

Add another ex-evangelical who swum the Tiber to your list!

[JCBreckenridge]

This article doesn’t apply to me (my family wasn’t churchgoing), but it reflects my opinion of the Catholic church and what it provides that the others do not.

[topher]

Thanks

[Publius Valerius]

You hit the nail on the head. This isn’t the 1600s where it’s Catholics vs. Protestants. It’s now religous vs. atheism. And our side is losing. Everyone needs to set aside the petty bickering about doctrine and start figuring out how to reverse our losses. They are getting bigger.

[WinOne4TheGipper]

For the Lutheran ping list.

I shared this article several days ago on Facebook. Quite interesting.

[vladimir998]

You want more young people to come to your parish?

Give a copy of this book to your pastor and parish council: http://www.amazon.com/Rebuilt-Awakening-Faithful-Reaching-Making/dp/1594713863/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374847856&sr=8-1&keywords=rebuilt

I’m not saying I agree with everything in the book, but it is a great conversation starter to say the least.

[Salvation]

[Jim Noble]

Knowing Jesus is only the start of the journey.

The more committed the young Evangelical is to walking with the Lord, the more likely they will (eventually) hunger for the Eucharist

[WorkingClassFilth]

A friend of mine seems to be going this route. In this case, it seems to me that he is seeking external guidance and formalism over the ill-defined ‘freedom’ too many Protestants hold to be orthodox truth. The ritual and complexities of Catholicism are very similar to what he has sought in many avenues of his life already. The internal freedoms he has pursued leave him confused and aimless - some by his own admission. I suspect this is the case for many experiencing this ‘revelation’ but I do not dismiss earnest searchers. If my suspicions are correct, these individuals will be no more satisfied inwardly than they were before.

Just my $0.02.

[Mr Rogers]

“Everyone needs to set aside the petty bickering about doctrine and start figuring out how to reverse our losses. They are getting bigger.”

“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

I’ve argued with Calvinists often enough that this might sound odd, but it is NOT up to us to convert people. Our job is to faithfully proclaim the Gospel: “repent and believe”. But we cannot make men repent. Not by offering them coffeehouses instead of churches. Not by hiring the reincarnation of Michael Jackson to be the ‘worship leader’.

We can repent and pray, but I’m not sure what to pray for any more - revival, or judgment. Increasingly, I’m inclined to think the latter...

[WorkingClassFilth]

I think you’re hitting it on the head. They leave their church roots because they are not believers - just sprinkled and stamped (this goes for Protestants, too). They wander knowing they are lacking something. They return to something ‘spiritual’ but different from what they grew up in. In effect, one lifeboat picks up survivors from another lifeboat and so on. Protestantism is rife with church-hopping people leaving one church or denomination to find another that tickles their ears or gives them happy vibes.

Personally, I believe when we finally apprehend to robe of Christ and hear his voice, we follow him and religion falls by the way. In effect, we seek to share they overflow of life within rather than be filled by our churches. Religion versus relationship.

[muir_redwoods]

It’s only my opinion but I think it wise to never confuse a belief in God with religion. Your dichotomy might be better phrased as belief in God vs. atheism. Religion is a filter or a lens (depending on your view) to God. One need not use either a filter or a lens if one wants a direct experience. Just as many Protestants see no need for a priest to stand between them and God, some see no need for a religion either.

[GBA]

Humans divided Jesus's Church into three branches, not Jesus.

Now that we've torn His Body apart, maybe we should be figuring out how to each bend toward unity, to put His Body back together again.

He wants His Body made whole again, united, not this division we have made and foment, that Satan uses to his advantage against us, to cause Jesus pain.

[ArrogantBustard]

but I’m not sure what to pray for any more - revival, or judgment.

When I'm not sure what to pray for, I usually turn here:

"Our Father who art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name; Thy kingdom come Thy will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses As we forgive those who trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. "

Oddly enough, something in there usually jumps out at me as appropriate to the situation.

[Publius Valerius]

but it is NOT up to us to convert people. Our job is to faithfully proclaim the Gospel: “repent and believe”.

I think what you're saying is true, but I also think that we have an obligation, through spreading the Word, to make a concerted effort to bring in the sheaves, so to speak. I think in general, we are failing in this. For instance, when high-profile protestant church leaders are becoming entangled in extra-martial affairs and the Catholic church is caught in its own sex scandals, it hurts Christians as a whole because it damages our ability to speak to moral issues with authority.

So instead of sitting around arguing the merits of transubstantiation, the question should be: holy cow! More and more people are turning away from Christ and rejecting the church. Why? And what can we do to fix this?

[Mr Rogers]

I was thinking more along the lines of this prayer:

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.

Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
O men of blood, depart from me!
They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain.
Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!

[Mr Rogers]

“For instance, when high-profile protestant church leaders are becoming entangled in extra-martial affairs and the Catholic church is caught in its own sex scandals, it hurts Christians as a whole because it damages our ability to speak to moral issues with authority.”

I agree, and I agree that we need to engage the lost with more fervor than we engage each other over something like transubstantiation. But in the end, we need to accept that it may not be our failures as Christians that are a stumbling block to this generation, but Jesus Christ Himself.

“For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

[Alex Murphy]

I’ve argued with Calvinists often enough that this might sound odd, but it is NOT up to us to convert people. Our job is to faithfully proclaim the Gospel: “repent and believe”. But we cannot make men repent. Not by offering them coffeehouses instead of churches. Not by hiring the reincarnation of Michael Jackson to be the ‘worship leader’. We can repent and pray, but I’m not sure what to pray for any more - revival, or judgment. Increasingly, I’m inclined to think the latter...

Do what I do - pray for a revival, and pray for mercy.

[GreyFriar]

An interesting column. and hopeful

[lightman]

There is also some growth from that same demographic taking place among the more liturgical, confessional, and Biblically-grounded Lutheran bodies, therefore:

Lutheran Ping!

Be rooted in Christ!