Israelites, Pharisees & Sadducees In The 21st Century Church

According to the Pew Forum, the Millennial generation has all but abandoned the
Church.
It would not take much to conclude the Church is dying. And, in its present form, I
suspect it is.
I have written extensively on this subject before, as many of you know. And, while
some mistakenly think I, too, have left the Church, I have actually stayed.
Admittedly, I am not involved in the same ways as I have been in the past.
Nevertheless, it is my sincere hope to “be the change I’d like to see,” as Gandhi used to
say. I believe a viable future exists for the Church in all its historic dimensions, Catholic,
Protestant, Evangelical alike. I am working toward this end.
Why Nobody Wants to Go to Church Anymore
My own feeling is, however, the 21st Century Church future lies in offering “absolutes”
to young people who do need boundaries within which to safely forge a real world faith.
Those boundaries, however, must be grounded in facts, in honest inquiry, and in
intellectual integrity.
Unfortunately, the Church has too often wrongly assumed what those “absolutes” must
be. In other words, the 21st Century Church that keeps trying to resurrect old, worn-out
ways of thinking and believing, and pretend while doing so that those absolutes have
never changed throughout its history, has decided already on its preferred destiny: the
graveyard of history.
Old Absolutes?
Here’s a sampling of some of the old absolutes to which dying 21st century churches
and church leaders still cling today...
1. The Bible is inerrant and infallible.
2. Adam and Eve were real people, the first two to walk on planet earth.
3. Creationism is a credible explanation for the origin of all things.
4. Evolution is just a “theory” and, therefore, it is evil.
5. Theism or the belief that God is a superhuman who resides somewhere just above
the clouds who favors his followers and answers their prayers.
6. Original sin is an infectious disease that automatically separates everyone from God.
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